Jus Sanguinis
by Ferret2
Summary: This is the sequel to 'Do I Not Bleed' but you can still read this fic without having read the prequel. It centers around DracoGinny, but we've got trio issues, too, and of course, the traditional action sequence as well. Enjoy!
1. Dance the Night Away

_Sequel to Do I Not Bleed?:_

**Jus Sanguinis**

_Definition: Latin phrase meaning, "law of blood"; in governmental terms, the principle that grants citizenship on the basis of the citizenship of one's parents._

**Chapter 1: Dance the Night Away**

The tears rolled down his face. 

He'd never asked for this cruel fate. He'd just been a child when all of this had begun. 

His parents had been murdered, his godfather locked away, as if to prevent any means of contact, and he, Harry, had been dumped, all alone, into a cage of his own. 

It may be the Dursley castle, but it was his cage. 

He was reminded constantly, intentionally and unintentionally, of the many horrors his existence had caused people. Torture, sickness, madness, and death, too. 

All of it was his fault. 

Harry warily removed one hand from the rim of the astronomy tower to wipe his wet cheeks. The dark night was absolutely silent, listening to his miseries, listening to his pathetic story, and listening to his loud tears drop one by one from his eyes. 

Life was just so unfair. No one could get the short end of the stick as many times as he had. That is, no _normal_ human. 

Harry looked up to the sky. His parents were watching over him, Sirius was watching over him, so many more people he cared about were all watching over him… or so he thought. After all, it was his fault they were all dead. Perhaps toying with his fate was their way of getting back at him. 

But here, right now, surrounded by the cold blanket of the night, Harry finally felt at peace. The darkness was where he belonged, though this in itself went against everything he had believed his whole life. He was taught that the world was black and white with no shades of gray in-between. Black was bad, being the darker of the two and white was good, symbolizing light and all things just and true. But if Harry had been parading around the light all his life, what was so good about it? He had nothing to be proud of and no one to share happiness with. 

Of course there were his friends—his wonderful friends. No one could ask for more loyal, trusting friends, but that was the trouble. Harry loved them. He loved them so much, just as he loved his parents and Sirius… and his loving them hadn't saved them from their horrible fates, so it was clear to Harry that wonderful friends like Ron and Hermione deserved a companion better and safer than he. 

The wind blew harshly and tousled his untidy locks of black hair. Harry gripped the edge of the astronomy tower harder, for he was standing on the outside edge of the tower, not within the balcony. With his face so damp and the wind whipping past him so fast, Harry felt his glasses slip down his nose and watched them fall from his face, to the ground. For a single moment, he had wanted to try and catch them, but what would be the use of that? He listened for the small sound of tinkering glass as they fell to the ground, but he didn't hear anything. Perhaps because the wind was roaring so loudly. He wouldn't need them where he was going, though. Not like his glasses helped all that much anyway; they just made the light before him clearer, and like he'd recently discovered, it wasn't as though the light had ever done him any good. 

Numb from the cold weather, Harry finally let go of the astronomy tower. He watched the landscape around him fall upward in slow motion. He saw specks of light moving around the Forbidden Forest. He saw the flags at the Quidditch pitch gallantly wave goodbye to him, and he saw the full moon straight above his head. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed all the light its brightness was casting upon the peaceful night. He looked into it and suddenly saw a face sneer at him and start to cackle. 

Wonderful. The last face he'd ever see would be a hallucinatory image of Draco Malfoy's face, sneering down at him. 

And just as he saw the ground come closer, Harry closed his eyes and crossed his hands over his chest, preparing to be admitted into the darkness. Forev— 

Harry felt an invisible rope wrap itself around his waist. He was close enough to ground to smell the wet grass below, but was then instantly pulled up four stories of Hogwarts castle until he entered a window and landed by crashing onto the floor and rolling into a bookshelf. His landing had caused books to topple everywhere and had upset a couple of ugly portraits that had been sleeping on the wall next to him. 

"Suicide?" Harry heard a voice exclaim. Then the owner of the voice, hidden in the shadows, walked toward him and tossed him his glasses. "How bloody _lame_ is that, Potter?!" 

x x x

Life was wonderful. 

School was going well, Gryffindor was in the lead for the House Cup, an awful pimple on her forehead was finally beginning to go away, she was so close to graduating from Hogwarts (with full honors), and she was dating the best man in the world: Draco Malfoy. 

Though Ron and her father definitely could argue the validity of that last bit. 

"Arthur! Be happy for her!" Ginny remembered her mother hissing into her father's ear. 

It would be nice if her brothers and father would just accept that she was dating Draco, but she could deal if they didn't. The hatred toward Draco wasn't as severe anymore since Ginny was actually dating him. Before, if a Malfoy were spotted within a mile radius, grand pianos, boulders, and anvils would be summoned above his head. Now, however, a small refrigerator, _might_ be summoned. 

She smiled at the random memory as she ate a grilled cheese sandwich with a glass of milk. She had brought the midnight snack into her dormitory to help her stay up late while she studied, but the milk was only proving to make her sleepier, so she closed her books and got into bed. 

Her bedside table had three pictures waving at her and blowing her goodnight kisses. First was the very old newspaper clipping of her family when they had won a trip to Egypt on the eve of her second year at Hogwarts. Her family pushed and shoved and climbed on one another's shoulders (this would be Fred and George) to stay within the boundaries of the photo and wave to Ginny. The second photo was a picture of Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing together on the Quidditch pitch. Ron was giving a bashful Harry a noogie while Hermione stood a little off to the side and waved at her. The third picture was the newest, and it was of Draco, more particularly, his school picture from last year. When she glanced at it, he was trying to fix his hair, but as soon as he realized Ginny had seen him, he immediately straightened up, flashed her a cocky grin, and winked at her. 

Ginny smiled to herself. She loved those pictures, and she loved that they were on her bedside table, for every night before she closed her eyes, the last people she'd see were the people she loved most, and every morning when she opened her eyes, they'd still be there. 

x x x

Harry was breathing hard, not only from the rush one may get from falling several stories off an old castle, but also because of all people— 

"Malfoy!" Harry cried— 

Had saved his life. 

"No need for such attitude. It's not like I'm absolutely thrilled to see you sprawled about on my floor at this hour. Imagine what people would think—if someone were to walk in here? You, just lying about with your glasses off, me, towering over you with my sexy body and torso, bathed in the moonlight." 

Draco stepped into the light and Harry finally got a good look at him and saw the boy slept in his boxers. Draco had horribly skinny legs, but the top half of his body _was_ rather muscular, but that was how most Quidditch seekers were built, so that wasn't a big deal. 

Harry frowned at Draco. "You're disgusting, Malfoy. Do you have dreams about moments like this?" 

"All the time," Draco said a bit too enthusiastically. "In fact, I daydream about things like this. In Potions when I glare at you, I'm actually stripping you with my eyes." 

Harry felt his stomach flip. As if he didn't dread potions enough already… and he'd almost been rid of everything just a moment ago. Harry wondered if the face he'd seen in the moon had actually been some ancestor of Draco who also decided to play a trick on Harry to make him suffer through life a little bit longer. 

"Malfoy!" Harry called out. 

Draco had been going on and on about whipped cream and some pair of leather pants. "Not so loud! It's two o'clock in the morning, idiot!" 

Harry cursed the Gods in his head. Of all people, the one to "rescue" him just had to be Draco Malfoy. Couldn't they just give him a break!? He rolled his eyes. "Malfoy, what're _you_ doing up this late?" 

The platinum-haired boy glanced out the window quickly and then gave a perplexing glare at Harry. "Saving your life, apparently." 

"Since when have you been concerned with my life?" Harry asked. He realized this was a stupid question, and wasn't surprised when Draco replied back with an obvious answer. 

"Uh, since about the time I was born?" Draco rolled his eyes. "But really, even Longbottom wouldn't be so stupid as to throw himself off the astronomy tower! Did you know that's the number one make-out scene? Wait, of course you wouldn't… you're just about done with Hogwarts and you still haven't found a girl for yourself! That's sad. Being an _evil_ Slytherin and all, even I feel sorry for you." 

Harry rolled his eyes this time and got up. "Just shut up," he groaned. He made for the door, but Draco blocked his way. "Let me out," Harry demanded. 

Draco folded his arms over his chest. "I'll bet you everything you're worth and everything I'm worth, which is a lot more than you, that you'll die quicker going out this door than jumping out that window." 

"Great! Then let me out!" Harry yelled. 

"No! How would it look if you came out of my room in the middle of the night looking as ugly as you do? If someone were to see you, they'd think I'd roughed you up or something, and not in the sense of beating your face in." Draco gave Harry a repulsed look and Harry returned it. 

"Okay, Malfoy, when I can find my stomach again, you're dead." 

"You can't even kill yourself. What good will it do to kill me?" Draco swished his wand at the door and the window and both exits shut with definite clicks. "Plus, without me, you won't ever be able to get out of this room." Draco walked over to his bed and fixed the covers to go back to sleep. 

"And where am I supposed to sleep?" 

"Why should I care?" 

Harry rolled his eyes, sat in the chair at Draco's desk and put his head down on the table. "Sweet dreams, you blessing from Hell." 

"Sure," Draco mumbled. "I'll tell Gin you said so." 

_So that's why he saved me_, Harry thought. _Ginny._

x x x

Draco, apparently, loved his beauty sleep. Harry found that he woke up at the last possible moment and rather stealthily and smoothly dressed himself. Neither of the boys were morning people, though Harry did give a loud growl when Draco wouldn't allow him to use his shower. 

"Just let me go to my own room!" 

"Come now," Draco said. "You've got to let me have a little fun with the whole situation. I did save your life, Potter." 

"I never asked you to, Malfoy." 

Draco curiously stared into Harry for half a minute, as if to look through him, then resumed staring at himself in the mirror. 

Harry waited next to him, arms crossed, foot tapping. "Can we go now?" 

"What? Oh, sure," Draco smirked. "Go ahead and apparate out of here. I've still got some touching up to do." 

Harry stared blankly at Draco. "Apparate?" 

"Yeah," He said. "You know, where you vanish from one spot and appear in another?" Draco apparated from where he was standing, to his bed, and then back to where he was standing. He snorted slightly, but otherwise held a steady smirk across his countenance. 

"You mean this whole time I could've just apparated out of here?" 

"Yes. And you wonder why I call you an idiot," Draco scoffed. 

"You know what? F—" 

Before Harry could say what he'd wanted to, Draco waved his wand through the air and Harry suddenly popped into a different location. He blinked slightly and gathered his bearings—he was in the Great Hall! 

He spotted Ron and Hermione coming toward him and suddenly looked down at the wrinkled clothes he was wearing. 

"Oy, mate," Ron greeted him. "Didn't you wear that yesterday?" 

"Yeah. So? What of it?" Harry said, all the while cursing Draco in his mind. 

There was an odd silence. 

Hermione smiled. "Well, I've always loved that green shirt. Uh, it goes well with your eyes!" 

Harry rolled his eyes. "Thanks, guys, really." 

The trio sat down at their usual spots for breakfast and a few minutes later, Harry spotted Draco casually slither into the Great Hall, a good few of his cronies buzzing around him. Harry was about to say something to him, or at least make some sort rude hand signal, but then— 

"Harry Potter?" 

Harry whipped his head around. It was Dumbledore. "Yes, sir?" 

"Mr. Potter, I would like to see you in my office, if it isn't too much trouble," Dumbledore said. 

"Actually, I—" 

"Now." With that, Dumbledore turned on his heel and began walking out of the Great Hall, obviously expecting Harry to follow behind. Ron and Hermione gave Harry worried glances and he returned the looks with a nervous smile. 

Before leaving the Great Hall, Harry somehow found eye contact with Draco and though the Slytherin didn't say anything or change his facial expression, for some reason, Harry had the horrible feeling that whatever was coming was Draco's fault. 

x x x

Harry entered Dumbledore's office and looked around him, not able to see Dumbledore anywhere within reasonable sight. Though he'd been in the room many times, each time he reentered, it seemed to have changed just slightly some how. Today, the room was in the shape of a pentagon. It was particularly dark since the curtains were drawn together to hide the crying day behind them. Fawkes was resting in his usual location, but didn't fly over to Harry like usual because it was clear he had just regenerated recently since faint traces of ashes could still be seen around his nest. 

He looked up and saw a floating model of the solar system spinning above his head. On the wall diagonally to his left, he saw an enormous case of what seemed like cards. Harry walked closer to it and was surprised to see Dumbledore was an avid collector of chocolate frog cards. He quickly scanned the collection and was surprised to see the one card the old headmaster was missing was his own! Harry found this odd since he remembered Ron had told him Dumbledore cards were quite common and his very first chocolate frog card had been of Dumbledore as well! He shrugged and continued observing the framed collection until a large object got in the way, that being Dumbledore's desk. It was a large oak desk with many trinkets, iridescent bottles, books, medals, quills, and candies atop it, all of which were swaying back and forth, for Dumbledore's desk had clawed feet and seemed to walk at its own will. 

Harry backed away from the desk and when he turned, came face to face with the old school Sorting Hat. The hat had been one of his favorite parts of Dumbledore's office, for it always had something wise or entertaining to say to Harry that somehow related to the reason Harry was in the office. But this time, the hat seemed to glare at Harry, frown, and then turn around to avoid looking at Harry at all. 

Flabbergasted, Harry walked to the fireplace, the only warm attribute of the room, and sat in a chair. He looked around him to find several portraits inhabited by sleeping professors and headmasters. One professor, however, was not sleeping. She was writing something on a chalkboard. Harry squinted his eyes to read what she wrote, but it was no use. He left the comforts of the chair he sat in and crept closer. The chalkboard read: Harry Potter is a bad, disturbed, and ugly boy. His grammar skills are horrid and he needs to brush his hair— 

Harry suddenly jumped when he heard the doorknob to Dumbledore's office rattle. He ran his fingers through his hair, clueless of what to do with himself, and finally ran to the middle of the room to stand on a rug with the Hogwarts crest on it. 

The door swung open and as Harry had suspected, it revealed Dumbledore. He did not wear his usual cheery expression and his eyes did not twinkle at him. Today, his expression was as dull and uninviting as his office was, which should be expected since _Hogwarts: A History_, according to Hermione, said the headmaster's office changes shape, shade, and form according to how the headmaster is feeling that particular moment. 

The last time Harry could remember Dumbledore look so emotionlessly at him had been during his fifth year, but that had been to protect Harry from Voldemort. What was this all about? What had he gotten himself into now? Rather, as his gut feeling was, what had _Malfoy_ gotten him into? 

"Hello, Headmaster," Harry finally said. 

Dumbledore pursed his lips and began pacing back and forth, left to right. Harry squirmed a bit, not sure of what to do with himself and was starting to wish he had been sitting in the chair when Dumbledore had come in. He finally stopped in his tracks and turned to face Harry. 

"Harry, a source who wishes to remain unknown—" 

"Malfoy?" Harry interrupted before he could stop himself. 

Dumbledore wasn't too bothered by the interruption, but nodded. "Well, the source wishes to remain unknown, though your guessing is somewhat impeccable." The headmaster used a finger to stroke the bottom of Fawkes' beak and neck. "But as I was saying, I was notified that last night you _threw yourself off the astronomy tower_?" 

_MALFOY!_ Harry was absolutely enraged that Draco had come to Dumbledore about this. 

The boy stuttered a bit, trying to explain himself. He mouthed wordlessly, "I slipped?" 

"Mr. Potter, I view this dilemma very seriously. This is no time for joking. I am not new to the world, and though I am quite aged, I, too, was a teenager at one time. It is my intention to help you or any of my students in any way I can, and you clearly need help. Also, though I was a teenager once, I _do_ realize that you are not to be stereotyped as the stereotyped teenager, because your life involves events and trials far beyond even the imaginations of many people, and though this makes you unique, it quite obviously makes you vulnerable as well. So I think we should start by getting to the bottom of this. What exactly is on your mind at this very moment, Harry? The weather? An exam? A girl? Anything at all. I believe it is our feelings that often shape how we feel on the inside, so if you can convey your feelings to me, I think I may be able to help you get through this critical moment and stage in your life." Dumbledore then summoned two chairs facing each other with a wave of his wand and sat down on the one nearest him. 

The headmaster motioned to Harry to sit, but Harry did not. "Help me get through _this_?" Harry said a bit more nastily than he had meant. "With all due respect, headmaster, you have no idea what it is that I'm going through!" 

"Harry, please sit down," Dumbledore said again, calm as ever. "I remember a few months ago Ms. Granger came to me because she was worried about your physical and mental conditions, and now I am truly sorry I did not pay more heed to her thoughts. And I know that you truly feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, but you cannot just drop the whole thing right away. I agree that it is an unfair life you must deal with, but we each must function with what we've been given." Harry was about to say something again, but then Dumbledore cut him short. "Suicide is not the answer. It is the most wrong and stupid of all possible choices and answers." 

"Headmaster, I _know_ this whole—this whole _lecture_ that you've planned out for me is based on a concern passed on to you from Draco Malfoy, but please use evidence from past experiences. How often has that particular Slytherin been right about anything? More particularly, anything about me? We're from two different worlds, and entertainment on a boring day for him is to see me get into trouble. It's insulting to me that you won't believe that I honestly slipped! I slipped! It was cold and it had rained earlier that night—" 

"At two in the morning," Dumbledore said quietly. 

"I slipped!" Harry shrieked. 

"Very well," Dumbledore said in a sad voice. "You are dismissed, Mr. Potter, but please keep in mind that when you're ready to talk, I will be ready to listen." 

Harry felt badly for lying to Dumbledore, but who on earth admits to committing suicide? Now that he was reflecting on the whole thing, it did seem rather stupid. Of course, when one gets caught doing something against the rules or out of the ordinary, it is normal to feel foolish. 

The boy sighed, nodded, and walked out of Dumbledore's office, down the spiral staircase, and off to the Gryffindor dormitory. 

The problem was, Harry Potter was not a normal boy. He never was, and never would be. Everyone knew that much, and though remembering how closely he had danced with Death the night before sent shivers up and down his spine, he could not help but wonder why fate was so twisted for him. It was as if Death was his dance partner, for he had tangoed with it so many times, but was always spared to return for the next tune. 

**Author's Note:** Hooray! The first chapter of the sequel to _Do I Not Bleed?_ Has been published! I hope new and old fans alike enjoyed it. Also, this sequel fic, in no way endorses the Harry/Draco ship… I've always viewed Draco as a very sarcastic character, so to me it made sense to have Draco be snarky and downright rude while Harry obviously felt so awful. Also, DINB was a Draco fic, and Jus Sanguinis (JS) will also be a Draco fic, though it was necessary for this first part to have a lot of Harry in it. So with that said, bring on the reviews! 

**Chapter Two:** It seems the trio might be experiencing a slight bit of tension in their relationships with one another, but while that goes about, Draco and Ginny prepare for their first "date." Seems a tad boring for something I'd write, eh? You just wait. 


	2. Lumos

**Chapter 2: Lumos**

Yet another boring Potions lesson. 

Draco sat on his workbench, listening as Professor Snape droned on and on about the many uses of dried Billywig stings. Like he'd need to know _that_. The day he'd found out dried Billywig stings were a key component in Fizzing Whizbees was the day he knew all he'd ever need to know about Billywigs. It was also the day he stopped eating Fizzing Whizbees. 

And just as he was about to nod off (falling asleep in class was something he could often get away with in Snape's classes since he seemed to favor him for some reason), Draco felt something pointy hit the back of his neck. He winced and his hand went straight to his neck to massage it. He turned around and found an origami crane floating next to his arm. 

Draco rolled his eyes. "How terribly original, Potter," he muttered. He opened the folded piece of parchment to find an ugly animated doodle showing Harry with a mallet in his hand, standing over what he assumed was a knocked out version of himself with doxies flying in circles above his head. A note was scrawled to the side: _This is war_. 

"So I expect four rolls of parchment on the eight uses of dried Billywig stings in elementary and advanced potion making and no, Mr. Weasley, Fizzing Whizbees candies may not be used as one of your examples. Class, dismissed!" 

As soon as Snape was out of sight, Draco walked over to Harry and pulled him aside. "What does this mean?" Draco pulled out the piece of parchment with the doodled threat on it. 

"Exactly what it says, if you know how to read," Harry spat. 

"'This is war,'" Draco read aloud once again. "Why? Because you're bored? For your information, we're _already_ in a war. Remember? I'm the bully; you're the goody-goody. It's a timeless thing, really… you don't need to think of _creative_ ways to remind me—I already know." 

Hermione and Ron spotted Draco and Harry together and walked over to stand next to their friend. "What's your business, Malfoy?" Ron growled. 

"What's my business?" Draco slouched a bit and crossed his arms over his chest. "Potter, shall I tell them what my business is?" 

"You already told Dumbledore, you pillock! You don't need to tell the whole wizarding world!" 

"Told Dumbledore what?" Hermione asked. 

"Last night, Potter—" Draco stopped speaking all of the sudden and pushed through Harry and Hermione. 

When the trio turned to see what had grabbed Draco's attention, Harry and Hermione immediately had to drop their books to hold Ron back. Draco had seen Ginny walking toward him. At contact, Ginny gave Draco a peck on the cheek and they walked away together. 

"That's so cute," Hermione cooed. "Er, I mean, if Ginny wasn't going out with Draco and all," she trailed off at sight of Ron's glowering. 

Harry sighed. "C'mon, Ron, let's go. She's your sister, not a pet dog; you can't keep her locked away forever." 

"Merlin's beard, she's going out with MALFERRET! She's seen with him in public!" Ron yelled as they walked up a flight of stairs to get back to Gryffindor Tower. "And Harry! You're beginning to sound like Hermione!" 

Hermione ignored the comment. "Well, Ron, remember that time when Harry went out with Cho? Well, they didn't really go out, it was more like a single date, but still, remember? Even though we didn't really like Cho, it was okay and Harry eventually got over her, didn't you, Harry?" 

"Yeah," Harry answered. "So I bet Ginny's going to get over Draco really soon. I mean, what's he got to offer her? Plus, it's not like anyone finds a Soulmate at school or anything, right, Hermione?" 

At this, both Ron and Hermione suddenly looked up, an action followed by an awkward silence. 

"Uh, right," Ron said weakly. 

Hermione smiled. "Anyway, I need to go study for an Ancient Runes exam I've got tomorrow. I'll see you two at dinner!" 

"Uh, me, too," Ron said. 

"You don't take Ancient Runes, Ron," Harry said flatly. 

"I, uh, I was, er, I'm thinking about it! Oy, Hermione, want to teach me some basic runes or something?" 

"Sure," Hermione said awkwardly. 

Harry stared blankly as both his friends walked off to the library. "_That_ was awkward." He went back to the Gryffindor common room and plopped down on an oversized armchair near the fireplace as Neville walked in through the portrait hole and sat opposite him. 

"Up for a game of Wizard's Chess?" Neville asked. 

"Forgive me for sounding incredibly nosy, but shouldn't you be studying for your Ancient Runes exam tomorrow? Even Hermione's studying." 

Neville blinked and looked awfully confused. "We don't have an exam tomorrow. In fact, we don't even have a class scheduled for tomorrow." 

Harry's mouth slowly fell open. "Oh," is all he could say at first. "Well, listen, I'm not really feeling up to chess at the moment, but let's have a go at it sometime later?" 

Neville nodded as Harry rushed through the portrait hole, slamming it shut on the way out. 

"Silly boy! Watch it! This is a newly painted hair-do I'm wearing!" The Fat Lady screamed after him. 

But Harry was in too much a hurry to hear, or care. 

x x x

"I mean, what Professor Binns teaches is really _very_ important, because unless we learn about wizarding history, history _will_ repeat itself, but honestly, the man's so terribly discolored and not clued in to anything! Today he fell asleep during his lecture on the Goblin War of 1412. I nearly thought he'd died!" 

"But he's a ghost, he can't die again," Draco interrupted Ginny. 

"Of course, I know that, but still. What I'm saying is, if we could somehow give him a hint that he needs to make his class a bit more interesting, people might actually be able to stay awake during his lessons. I've got good grades in everything except for his history class since I've fallen asleep through four of his lectures," Ginny moaned. 

Draco smirked. "How about we meet on the astronomy tower tonight and I _tutor_ you?" 

Ginny laughed. "Draco Malfoy, there's only one thing you're good at tutoring on the _astronomy tower_!" 

"So?" He shrugged, and they stopped in a corridor in front of a picture of a bowl of pears. "How 'bout it?" 

"No," she said. "Even _if_ I were to snog you senseless—wipe that stupid grin off your face!" Ginny whacked Draco's shoulder. "Whatever, I'm not going to—Millicent Bullstrode and Michael Corner make out on the astronomy tower every night!" Ginny finally blurted out. "That's disgusting so we're not ever going there until they find a new make out spot or they break up, and no, you will not sabotage them in some way to break them up." 

"You ramble too much." 

"You're ugly." 

"You're a stiff." 

"At least I'm beautiful." 

Draco racked his brain for a comeback, but ended with, "Yes, you are." He shoved his hands in his pockets. 

Ginny stood on her toes to give Draco a quick kiss on the lips. "But why don't you come to my room later tonight?" 

"Later _tonight_?" Draco said mischievously. 

"Tonight as in eight, not when I'm in bed, you horny toad!" 

"Ouch!" Draco hissed. 

"But still, my room?" Ginny asked. 

"Why yours? What on earth can we do in there?" 

"Exactly. So, my room?" Ginny said again. 

"Fine, I'll apparate outside your door at eight, so let me in right away because I don't fancy being speared to death by raging Gryffindor goodies." 

"Don't worry, I'll let you in. Only if you bring me a present!" She added. 

"A present?" Draco arched an eyebrow. 

"Of course!" 

"Why?" He asked. 

Ginny put her hands on her hips and looked very much like her mother in doing so. "Don't you remember anything?" 

"Uh, it rained last night," Draco said, shrugging his shoulders. 

"Today's our one-month anniversary, Draco!" 

Draco choked. "Oh, _that_! I knew about that! I, uh, I just wasn't saying anything because I already _do_ have a present for you," Draco ended quietly. "And I want it to be a surprise." 

Ginny giggled. "I'll let you go now." 

"Yeah, I need to go find your present," Draco said. 

"You go do that," she smiled. 

Draco stared awkwardly at Ginny for a moment. "Okay, bye!" And he apparated away. 

"Well, that ought to keep him busy long enough," Ginny said to herself as she walked back to Gryffindor Tower. 

x x x

"What to get the girl who has everything," Draco quietly read aloud. 

At the moment, he felt extremely stupid standing in the section of the library he was standing in. All the shelves had been painted an awful shade of pink and paper hearts, cupids, and angels had been hung all over the place. The row lined with shelves of books about love smelled like fresh red roses. The smell was beginning to get sickening, but as Draco tried to take one of the books to read at a table, he found that he couldn't since the book was attached to the bookshelf by a— 

"Chain of love," Draco read. And that's exactly what it was. An actual iron chain, painted red, was attached to the book. It stretched just barely to the end of the bookshelf—just far enough for the reader to read the book. Draco pulled out a few more books to find all the books were attached to the bookshelf in the same way. "How degrading," he muttered as he sat down and began reading the book about presents. 

He hadn't exactly been on a real date with Ginny yet, but the fact that she'd invited him to her room had to count for something. 

Draco flipped to the "First Dates" chapter. 

This was a particularly odd thing for him to be doing. When he had dated Pansy Parkinson for a couple months (before they realized they were better off being "just friends"), a nice present for her might've been a dead weasel's head, but Draco had the feeling Ginny's tastes were a little different than a Slytherin girl's might be. 

Then Draco began wondering what was happening. The moment word of his relationship with Ginny Weasley had gotten out, the Slytherin love was a little scarce in his corner of the dungeon. Pansy, of course, was furious with him. Theodore Nott had set a wild hippogriff loose in his room, and apparently _now_ was the time his fellow Slytherins had decided to remind him of all his miseries, for everywhere he went, a dead ferret's head randomly appeared before him. All he had left were Crabbe and Goyle clones. 

And he was going through all this just for a girl. A Gryffindor girl, at that! 

Draco groaned. "I must be losing my touch." 

He turned to the "She's the One" chapter. 

x x x

Ginny was absolutely thrilled at the thought of Draco's visit later that evening. She was running about her room, making sure it was perfectly clean and spotless. Strings of popcorn and other holiday decor ran along the walls and the theme colors of her room were emerald green and maroon. 

Earlier, she had sent a special order to the kitchen elves to prepare a mouth-watering dinner for Draco and herself. Ginny picked out some classical Italian music that she felt might set the mood she was after, and added an enchanted fireplace to her room just for tonight. 

Lastly, she enchanted the ceiling so real snow would fall into her room, but made sure it dematerialized before it might touch Draco's head, for he was quite tall and according to anyone who knew him, cared greatly for his platinum Malfoy locks. 

Though the appearance of the room was important, Ginny knew quite well that any normal boy would appreciate the appearance of the girl in the room as well, so Ginny had spent a little over an hour with Hermione to choose what to wear. She finally decided on a light-cyan turtleneck sweater with black slacks. Simple, yet elegant. 

At the moment, Ginny was stuffing loose pieces of parchment into her desk drawers, which were enchanted to never get full. 

_He's going to be here any minute_, Ginny thought frantically. 

She continued stuffing papers into her desk, but suddenly froze when she saw a tiny black book with a puncture wound in the middle of it. She didn't even need to open it to know what it was. 

Ginny stretched her arm to it, almost afraid to touch it. "Tom Riddle's diary?" She said to herself. "How did it get here? Again?" She bit her bottom lip and finally picked it up. 

The diary was completely dry, but oddly felt somewhat damp in her hands. She peeled the cover open and began looking through the pages when she suddenly felt a reminiscent vibration in her fingers. She stared at the page before her, because she remembered that vibration from when she had been eleven. The diary was going to write something. 

_Tom_ was going to write something. 

Ginny saw letters, then words form on the page. "I've come back to get what's rightfully mine," she read aloud. 

What did that mean? She debated on whether or not she should write back, but then she heard a knock at her door before she could even begin to search for a quill. 

"Gin? Are you going to open the door?" 

It was Draco. 

Ginny quickly stuffed the diary into the desk drawer and ran to the door. 

x x x

Why would his two best friends lie to him? He'd almost taken his own life just yesterday to protect them! 

Harry was breathing hard, pacing up and down corridors. He'd gone to the library at first, but Madam Pince hadn't seen Ron or Hermione. Then he went outside to the Hogwarts courtyard, but he couldn't spot his friends anywhere. Now he was just opening and closing doors at random. 

"Ancient Runes my—" Harry suddenly saw a door materialize before him. "The Room of Requirement," he said in a daze. He put a hand on the doorknob. For some reason, he had a feeling what lay behind the door would be bad news, but he'd had that feeling before, and he'd yet to learn his lesson. He pushed the thoughts back, twisted the doorknob, and swung the door open to find a very dark room before him. 

Harry searched for a light switch, but finally whispered, "Lumos," to turn on a tiny light at the tip of his wand. He was immediately able to see all four walls of the room had bookshelves pushed up against them, and one long bookshelf ran down the middle of the room; all the shelves were filled with rows and rows of books. He brought his wand closer to the spines of the books and whispered aloud, "_Ancient Runes for the Novice, Balthazar's Romantic Runes, Cooking with Runes and Prunes, Dummies Edition: Ancient Runes, Germanic Runes_—" 

Harry suddenly stopped reading the titles. 

"Ron! I can't believe you just did that!" 

Harry's eyes grew wide. _That…that sounds just like Hermione's voice_, he thought to himself. 

He heard a low laugh. 

Out of curiosity, Harry quickly whirled around, and stopped when the light from his wand lit up two people's faces. He saw opened and unopened books scattered about them, notebooks, quills and two empty mugs on the table next to the couch the two people were sitting in. They looked quite comfortable. 

The girl gasped. 

"Harry," Ron said, a bit unsure of himself. 

Harry mouthed wordlessly, shocked at what he was looking at. 

"Ha—" 

"Nox!" Harry croaked. And he ran out of the room. 

**Author's Note:** Not very action-packed (unless you count Ron's little "adventure"), but quite eventful! And there's also that tension among the trio that I promised you. More on that later, of course. And did anyone catch my creative Lumos/Nox beginning/ending? Yeah, I thought that was creative. o-O; LOL! 

**Chapter Three:** I know this chapter only showed Draco and Ginny _preparing_ for their date, but next chapter Ginny will open the door so the date can actually begin! I'll have another trio confrontation, of course, and we'll also find out what Tom Riddle wants _this_ time. Goody! 

Thanks to my reviewers: **Bubble**, **Jonah**, **bigreader**, **Maureen**, **Saadia**, **Andromeda77**, **Chantelle**, **Maggie**, and **Sasha**. You keep the wheels churning! 


	3. Where the Broken Heart Beats

**Chapter 3: Where the Broken Heart Beats**

"Is everything all right?" 

Ginny had just opened the door and felt her muscles tense at hearing the concern in Draco's voice. "Yes," she stuttered. "What do you mean? Why would anything be wrong?" 

Draco furrowed his eyebrows. "I didn't ask if anything was wrong. I asked if everything was all right." He warily stepped into her room. 

"Well, thank you for your concern, but everything's fine," Ginny closed the door gently. "You just surprised me, is all." 

Draco cocked an eyebrow at this and when Ginny turned to face him, whipped out a large bouquet of gorgeous red roses from behind his back. 

"Draco, those must've cost a fortune!" Ginny exclaimed. 

"I didn't buy them," Draco said coolly. "One cannot _buy_ his way into a woman's heart." He found an empty spot on the floor and uttered a spell under his breath. "He must find his own space, and let his love for her grow from there." As if on cue, roses began to grow from the wooden floor of Ginny's bedroom. 

When Draco looked at Ginny, her face held an expression of absolute delight. "Draco, that was so amazing! Where did you learn to do that?" She squealed. 

"Some things are better left unsaid—" Draco stopped short. "What was that?" 

"What was what?" Ginny said a bit too quickly, eyeing her desk drawer. 

Draco caught her glance at it. "Is that a boggart or something?" 

"Yes! It's a boggart!" Ginny exclaimed. "It's been there for ages, so let's just leave it alone," she laughed nervously. 

Draco stared, predaceous. "A little weird for a boggart to be in your school desk. But I can get rid of it for you. Rumbling from the desk must keep you up all night." He walked toward the desk. 

"No!" Ginny shouted. 

Draco whirled around with the most confused look across his countenance. "Ginny, it's a boggart, not a big deal. And if you're afraid it's going to scare you, well, I'm the one facing it, so it's okay. Watch, it'll be gone in a second." 

Ginny mouthed wordlessly. "Wait! Your present! I got you a present!" She ran to her bedside table to get the box resting atop it. 

"Gin, you're acting really weird." 

As Ginny turned, she saw Draco reach toward the drawer handle. "Draco, no! Don't open it!" 

But it was too late. 

As soon as Draco had slid the drawer open, a large source of bright light poured out of it toward the ceiling, and an invisible force knocked him backwards into the side of Ginny's bed, sliding both the bed and bedside table out of place and toppling over the pictures resting on the table. 

"Draco!" Ginny cried. 

"I'm fine," he replied stoically, helping himself up and massaging his right leg unnoticeably. "Apparently, there's a little more than a boggart in your desk." 

"Yeah, _that_," Ginny trailed off. 

"You mean you know what it is?" Draco asked while pushing Ginny's bed and table back into place. But before Ginny could explain, the little black book that was Tom Riddle's diary floated out of the desk drawer. Draco crossed his arms. "This is definitely better than any date _I_ could plan." He walked over to the diary and was about to pluck it out of the air. "Isn't this—?" 

"Yeah, Tom Riddle's diary," Ginny said, looking at the ground. "Remember how you kind of had to rescue me a month or so ago? That was Tom Riddle's fault, too. I mean, I know you dueled with him and all, but he's the one who started the whole thing, long before you were involved. Since my first year at Hogwarts, he's kind of been following me around," Ginny sighed. "I thought Harry had gotten rid of him that time in the Chamber of Secrets—I mean, I know he's a ghost and all, but with You-Know-Who involved, I guess it's not too simple to fully _kill_ him. He still appears in my dreams all the time, and then he showed up again about a month ago and considering he reappeared, and Harry's still busy battling his present form and all, I guess it was silly of me to think he'd _really_ died when you 'killed' him." 

Draco didn't know what to say, but he saw tears well up in her eyes. "Ginny—" 

"No, Draco," she said firmly. Her bottom lip began to quiver, so she bit it. "You're a wonderful person, Draco. I was so blessed to find someone like you and—" 

"Ginny, what are you saying? Stop this! What's wrong?" Draco asked, knowing what was coming. 

She let out a long breath. "I can't continue seeing you, Draco." She began pushing him toward the door. "I'm so sorry." 

"Stop!" Draco hollered, firmly clutching Ginny's shoulders. "What is the matter? Tell me!" He demanded. 

Ginny silently cried and sniffled in Draco's grasp. "Draco, you're hurting me," she whispered. 

He quickly let go of her shoulders; he hadn't realized just how hard he had been gripping her. First he stuffed his hands in his pockets, then he took them out and crossed his arms over his chest, but he couldn't stay still. Finally he said, "Ginny, I thought you loved me!" 

Ginny winced at the hurt in his voice. He was waiting for an answer. She sighed, opened the door, and tried to push him out again, but he wouldn't budge. 

"You said you loved me!" He cried aloud. "Was that all fake? Explain that!" He demanded. 

Ginny wasn't fighting the tears anymore and she couldn't bring herself to look into Draco's eyes. 

"What's wrong?" Draco whimpered. "Don't you love me?" It was all he could think to say. 

She sensed how hurt he was. So confused and angry, too. Ginny lowered her eyes and took something out of her pocket. "Expelliarmus!" She said through her tears. Ginny caught Draco's wand as it flew toward her and watched as he was thrown through the open door and into the banister in front of her door. She walked to the entrance and dropped Draco's wand on his chest. 

He stared at her, bewildered. 

"I do," Ginny whispered. And with that, she closed the door and locked it. 

x x x

"Harry, wait!" 

Harry could hear Ron running after him, but he refused to stop. Everyone had always used the pity card on him, and now his friends, the only people he used to have to turn to, were turning into everyone else. 

"Harry!" 

He continued running through the corridors, but suddenly couldn't move his legs. Harry groaned and tried with all his might to budge his legs. 

"Harry!" Ron called again, finally catching up to Harry, out of breath. 

Ron wasn't carrying a wand, but as soon as he could move his legs again, Harry turned to see Hermione silently approach from behind him, pocketing her wand away. She looked scared, or maybe shocked. 

"Harry, mate, just let me explain." 

"There really isn't anything to explain, Ron," Harry said crossly. 

"Yes, there is," Ron replied. "Why else would you be running away?" 

Harry gawked as if this were the stupidest hypothetical question ever, so he answered, "I don't know, Ron. Maybe because I felt like taking a nice jog through the hallways. Why do you _think_ I was running?" 

"That's why we have to talk," Ron said sternly. 

"Great, you talked, I talked—are we finished here? I have other things to do." Harry glanced slightly at Hermione before looking away. She hadn't said anything yet. 

No one said anything for a few seconds longer, so Harry gruffly turned, preparing to leave. 

"Harry, wait." 

He turned to see Hermione take a step toward him. Harry sighed. "What?" 

Hermione looked at the floor then looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry for lying to you." 

"Well, what's done is done, isn't it?" Harry said stoically. 

Ron could see the hurt in both his friends' faces, but at this he had to step in. "Hermione, you have no reason to look so guilty." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Harry, we did nothing wrong. If you would just let us explain!" 

Harry was flabbergasted and he mouthed wordlessly. "Explain? Fine! Go ahead and explain! Explain to me why you two had to lie to me. Explain why you couldn't tell me of this one detail in your lives when, in fact, you know _every_ detail of mine." 

"Maybe because you'd react like this?" Ron said a bit nastily. 

"Who wouldn't?" Harry yelled back. He heard the portrait beside him grumble and walk out of the picture, perhaps into a quieter setting. "I tell you two everything. I thought you were my best friends. I have no family, no real relatives, and apparently, no friends. I trusted you two!" He said, clenching his fists. 

"Harry, even though you might not think it, you're somewhat a celebrity in the wizarding world. If anyone, you should know about the need for privacy, and my personal life is my business. Privacy." Ron said, his cheeks turning red from frustration. 

"So much so that you had to lie to me about your whereabouts—?" Harry asked. He was about to say something else, but he suddenly stood stock-still. 

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, concerned. 

His scar was hurting—it was burning, but he used every muscle in his body to hold his hand back from rubbing it. "I think you know what's wrong," Harry said in a low, raspy voice through his efforts to hide that anything was physically wrong with him. 

Ron was about to say something when Harry couldn't take the pain any longer and fell back against the wall, letting out a slight yell of anguish. Both his hands clutched his scar and his head felt as though it might explode. 

"Harry!" Ron cried, forgetting for a moment their previous argument. 

Seeing him come near, Harry clenched his teeth, regained his balance and pushed himself off the wall. He whipped his wand out and pointed it at Ron, backing away. "You stay away from me," he growled, backing farther away, almost stumbling over himself. 

Hermione walked toward him. "Harry, you need to lie down and see—" 

"Stay away!" Harry tried to yell, short of breath. He was now pointing the wand at Hermione and both his friends could tell he was having a hard time standing up. _Nice timing, Voldemort_, Harry thought to himself. And then everything went black. 

x x x

Draco was still sprawled against the banister in front of Ginny's room minutes after she had shut the door on him. He had never felt so awful in his life. Ginny's pushing him away like that, so abruptly, was worse than any punch to the stomach. Draco felt as if a part of him, inside, had been removed… and it hurt beyond reason. 

He replayed the events from moments ago in his head, but no matter how he looked at it, he knew Tom Riddle's diary was behind it all. Even if Potter's hero complex had rubbed off on her, Ginny had still pushed Draco away. 

What hurt most was he didn't know he could love anyone or anything as much as he loved Ginny. He hadn't ever been in love before, but even so, what he felt for Ginny he'd felt for nothing else in his entire life. With his father molding him to be some future Death Eater and his mother hardly ever near him, Draco never had the chance to know what real love was like, but with Ginny, everything was different. And without her, words could not express how different everything was. 

Draco finally sat up and looked through the slits in the banister, down into the Gryffindor common room. No one was downstairs—not even the terrific trio, which was good, in a way, but he still needed to see to Ginny. He got back on his feet and jiggled the doorknob to find it locked. 

"Ginny!" He yelled, banging on the door with his fists. "Ginny, I'm not leaving before we sort this out! Gin—!" 

Draco suddenly heard a shrill scream from inside Ginny's room. 

x x x

Ginny turned back to her room after locking Draco out, only to see Tom Riddle's diary floating before her. "Why can't you leave me alone?" She furiously whispered through her sudden flood of tears. She grabbed the worn diary and threw it as hard as she could toward the farthest corner of her room. 

At the moment, she hated herself deeply for hurting Draco as she had. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Draco lying against the banister outside, his face holding an expression of utter confusion. 

Ginny went to her bedside table and put the fallen photos back up. The pictures of her family and Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled and waved at her normally, but when she looked at Draco's school picture, the tears rolled down her face even faster and his picture put his head down. 

Just when she was about to put the picture back on the table, Ginny spotted something on her bed that startled her so much she dropped the frame with Draco's picture in it. She heard the glass break into tiny pieces, but did not have time to care, for on her bed was Tom Riddle's diary. She looked back to the corner, but the diary wasn't there anymore—it was right in front of her, on her bed. Ginny could feel her heart beating fast and picked up the diary. She opened it to an empty page and felt the familiar vibrating of the diary in her fingertips. 

"You're never alone," the message read. 

Alarmed, Ginny let go of the diary, but it did not drop to the floor; it simply floated in the air where she had been holding it. The diary turned so the empty pages faced Ginny and this time it wrote, "You belong to me." 

"No, I don't!" She shouted at it. She ran to her desk and finally found an inked quill, but then— 

"Ginny!" It was Draco, and he was pounding on the door. 

She looked at the diary again and it simply underlined the words it had written before. Angry, she took her quill and spoke, as she wrote, "No, I don't." 

"Ginny, I'm not leaving before we sort this out! Gin—!" 

Ginny heard Draco yelling, but the moment her quill had left the damp pages of the diary, the page she'd written on became pitch black with ink, and before she'd hardly emitted any kind of scream, she had been sucked into the darkness. 

x x x

Draco whipped out his wand. "Alohomora!" He cursed inwardly for not having done it before, rashly bursting into the room. "Ginny!" He cried. 

As soon as he had a chance to gather his bearings, he realized no one was in the room. He looked around and everything seemed normal until he saw the smashed glass next to Ginny's bed and Tom Riddle's diary lying next to it. He carefully picked through the glass and winced at seeing it was his picture that had suffered such an unruly fate and decided not to reparo the mess. Draco then picked up the diary and turned to the first page. "Your soul is mine," he read. 

Draco's eyes widened and he gasped as he remembered how Ginny had spoken so fearfully about Tom Riddle. "No," he whispered, even though it couldn't help the situation. Then he saw the quill lying on Ginny's bed, and with one last look at the tiny picture of Ginny in the newspaper clipping of she and her family in Egypt, Draco replied back to Tom Riddle's diary. 

x x x

"Professor Dumbledore is going to be here once he finishes with some business about the misplacement of some nifflers, so until he is back, I ask that you two go back to your common room," Madam Pomfrey said. "Mr. Potter has been here enough times to know his way out of here once he is feeling better, so go on!" She said, pushing Ron and Hermione out the doors of the infirmary. "Out!" And as soon as they were out, she closed the door. 

"Pushy, isn't she?" Ron said, trying to lighten up the mood, but Hermione still looked glum. 

"Ron, I can't help but think Harry's in trouble again—in fact, he's in trouble all the time, and all we were worried about was, well, you know," she said, blushing slightly. 

They began walking down the corridors of the old castle, back to Gryffindor Tower. 

"Hermione, witches and wizards date each other everyday. It's nothing new, and it's not like we were doing anything bad. We were just kissing, you know—? Apricot pudding," he said as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, admitting them into Gryffindor Tower. Ron then gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek and hugged her. "Look, Ginny's door's open. Let's go pay her a visit or something." He looked at her beautiful face. "Maybe it'll make you smile." He hated to see such sadness in her eyes. 

Hermione returned the look and forced a tiny smile on her lips. 

They walked up the stairs and Ron called out to his sister just before they reached the door, but when she didn't answer, they walked into the open room. No one was inside. 

"I wonder where she is," Ron thought aloud. "Why would she just leave her door open with all the lights on?" 

"Look," Hermione said, kneeling next to Ginny's bed. "It's Tom Riddle's diary." 

"What?" Ron exclaimed. He immediately ran to her side. Hermione had picked up the diary and Ron could tell by the look in her eyes that she had read something in the little black book. "What does it say?" 

Hermione looked up at Ron, clearly worried. "Well, Tom Riddle wrote, 'Your soul is mine,' and someone else also replied." 

"I know, Ginny—" 

"No," Hermione said. "It… it looks like Draco's handwriting." 

"Malfoy? How could he have written in it? How could you know it's his handwriting?" 

"I grade papers for Professor McGonagall, Ron, and this looks like his writing," Hermione replied. 

"Well, what does it say?" Ron asked, hoping the answer would not mean bad news. 

Hermione read Draco's fancy scrawl in the diary in response to Riddle's statement. "_Please, take mine instead_." 

**Author's Note:** So much suspense! So basically, Draco and Ginny were transported to the same place, seeing as Draco offered his soul to Tom Riddle in place of Ginny's. What Tom Riddle thinks of the idea is yet to be seen. And _finally_, I've decided to pick a ship other than Draco/Ginny and make it happen, so hello to Ron/Hermione! Sorry about all the drama surrounding it, but I've often wondered how Harry might intake the news if this ever happened in the HP series, and anger or frustration are usually the scenarios that make the most sense in my head. Anyway, hope the fic is still somewhat interesting and that I've got you hooked. And if you really are hooked, I'll apologize now and say the publication of the next chapter will be delayed since school has started again and I've got a _lot_ of work piled up already, and sadly, school comes before Harry Potter! But don't worry, I'll be working on the next chapter slowly but surely. 

**Questions:** Someone asked in my reviews if Draco was still a vampire from _Do I Not Bleed?_ and the answer to that: No. If you'll remember in the last chapter or so of DINB, because Draco bit Riddle, Draco's vampire-ness is no longer existent, though Riddle's, again, is yet to be seen. One more question I am often asked is: Why do you keep bringing Riddle back? Honestly, I've no idea. He's the coolest bad guy in my book… or diary (laugh with me here)! He's so screwed up, yet I imagine him so evil and, I dunno, I just like his bad guy-ness! I also like all the plots that can be outlined just around his diary and stuff. And why have I turned him into a vampire? Because I've got a vampire fetish, so sue me. ;) 

**Chapter Four:** Harry will finally wake up and have a chat with Dumbledore, and the trio will have another little chat, too. And of course, we find out where Draco and Ginny have gone. Stick around! 

Thanks to **otterhead**, **bigreader**, **Jonah**, **Sasha**, **Jixnce**, **Rinote**, **Twerksie Gogara Relffin**, **Andromeda77**, **Chantelle**, and **Rebell** for reviewing the last chapter! Reviews from you guys are so sweet… so keep 'em coming! :) 


	4. Reflecting Shadows

**Chapter 4: Reflecting Shadows**

As soon as he'd scrawled his reply to Tom Riddle in the diary, everything around him became pitch black. Draco blinked over and over again, but his eyes would not grow accustomed to the darkness. He was in Riddle's realm now, and even though keeping his eyes open or closed wasn't going to make much of a difference, his instincts and nerve kept his eyelids pried open.

A voice suddenly resounded in the realm. "_Your_ soul instead?"

Draco whirled around, trying to place where the voice was coming from. He knew it was Riddle, but where was he?

"Interesting proposition," Riddle continued.

"Show yourself," Draco demanded. His voice was deep and strong.

"As you wish," Riddle said.

Instantly, a young man appeared before Draco's eyes. It was Riddle in his teenage form—the form that had been bound to the diary. Light surrounded Riddle's figure, causing Draco to wince slightly; but he would not cower before such a monster. His eyes watered as he avoided blinking as much as possible, but in time his eyes became accustomed to the emission of light around Tom Riddle.

Draco could see Riddle's eyes move up and down, presumably sizing him up. He unexpectedly realized they were both almost identical in physical attributes. Same height, lanky, pale, cold eyes—only their hair differed, and only in color, at that. But Draco took comfort in reminding himself that he was no longer the same as Tom Riddle. Draco personally found it stupid and antiquated to mold his life to match that of his father's and other people of the same sort.

"Where's Ginny?" Draco asked firmly.

"I'm surprised you feel so bold right now." Riddle's form suddenly faded into the darkness, but as Draco tried to turn to see where it had gone, he found he could not move. Draco gasped when he felt fingers touch his shoulders from behind. "Thought you'd really killed me, didn't you?"

Draco was breathing hard, and despite his best efforts, was unable to hide his uneasiness, though no one should be expected to remain perfectly calm while in the grasp of the one even Death fears. He suddenly felt Goosebumps prickle through his skin as Tom Riddle's icy cold fingertips touched his neck.

"Perhaps I should return the favor from the summer, and have a little nibble?" Riddle hissed into Draco's ear.

Draco was sweating now, and trying with all his might to move or to say something, but he found all he could move were his eyeballs, so he simply watched in horror and disgust as Tom Riddle's vampire fangs came into view. Riddle's face held a cruel and desirous sneer as he leaned in for the kill. Draco felt Riddle's tongue lick his neck—twice, but then the vampire froze. Draco could feel Riddle's raspy breathing on his neck. Suddenly, Riddle backed away, a look of utter disappointment, and newfound knowledge, about his countenance.

"Consider yourself lucky for now, little Malfoy," Riddle said with a hint of regret in his voice.

Before Draco could even think of what Riddle meant, he was thankful to suddenly have control over his limbs again, but did not have an opportunity to do anything more, for he was now spiraling away from the darkness of Riddle's realm, and toward a new destination.

Unfortunately, he would very soon wish to return to Riddle's realm, for nowhere was more awful than where he was headed to now.

x x x

"But if Malfoy's in the diary, or with Riddle or whatever, where's Ginny?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure—" Hermione had begun to say, but then she found a completely pitch-black page in the diary. "Ron, take a look at this."

Ron kneeled next to Hermione and ran a finger across the page. When he brought his finger off the page, it was stained with the wet ink from the diary. "Why is the whole page covered in ink?" Hermione was about to suggest something, but then Ron said, "Wait! Where's your wand?"

Hermione took it out from her back pocket and handed it to Ron. "Where's yours— Ron?" she started.

"Reveal your secrets," Ron said with great confidence, pointing the wand at the inked page. Instantly, as if his words were magic, the black ink began to dissipate until it was finally gone, leaving only three words on the page.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Hermione said, bewildered.

"Harry told me Snape did it once third year or something," Ron replied, though he was in a daze. "Hermione, this is Ginny's handwriting. She wrote, _No, you don't_, Hermione." He looked up. "What does that mean?"

Seeing Ron was getting worried, Hermione put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but then she had a realization. "Ron! Ginny invited Draco to her room for a date tonight!"

Ron's face immediately went pale. "Hermione, that's not the most comforting piece of information to be telling me!" He cried aloud.

"Sorry, but she was talking about it all afternoon. But what if what Ginny wrote was in response to what Riddle wrote, then Draco replied back to _save_ Ginny?"

Hermione could see by the look on Ron's face that he was having a hard time comprehending Draco doing anything good for anyone beside himself, but Ron finally said, "We've got to find Dumbledore and tell him about this."

"It'll be okay—" Hermione started to place her hand back on Ron's shoulder.

"Why the bloody hell is the Dark Lord so preoccupied with the Weasleys!" Ron yelled in frustration.

Just then, Harry walked past the open door. He had had fainting spells before, so Madam Pomfrey released him from the infirmary as soon as he was conscious again. "Excuse me?" He said nastily. "I know you're desperate for a little spotlight, Ron, but making up stories—"

"SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP!" Ron yelled in the middle of Harry's sentence. He could tell Harry was taken aback at his sudden interjection. "You can take your sodding hero complex out of here! Get the bloody hell out of here and don't you _dare_ talk to me if you don't know what you're talking about!"

"So since I discovered you two in the Room of Requirement, you've decided to suck face in your little sister's room? That's clever of you. How does Ginny feel about all this? Or have you even asked?" He shouted back.

"Ron!" Hermione screamed, but it was too late. He had lunged at Harry and now both boys rolled around the floor trying to get a good jab at the other.

"You sodding piece of—" Hermione heard Ron yell through his efforts to slug Harry.

Hermione picked up her wand from the ground, but did not know how to stop the boys from fighting. Suddenly, an object flew through the air and crashed into her leg. She looked down to see Harry's glasses, mangled and twisted. "Harry—Ron!" She yelled, but her effort to catch either boy's attention was fruitless in their angered states.

"Some—best—friend—!" She heard Harry yell.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione shouted. Harry's wand flew toward her, but it did not help the situation since neither boy had been using magic to clobber the other. "Honestly, _stupefy_!" The fighting immediately ceased, and the air in the room held an eerie sort of quiet. When she looked at her boys, she saw Harry had been pulling Ron's hair and Ron had Harry in a headlock. With a levitating charm, Hermione placed both boys on separate sides of the room and finally said, "_Enervate_," to awaken the two.

Harry and Ron were breathing hard, but at least they didn't run toward each other to continue the fight. Seeing they were both holding steady, Hermione walked to Harry and gave him his wand and glasses. Once his glasses were back on his face, she said, "_Oculus reparo_," and watched the glasses repair themselves to be good as new.

Hermione saw Ron was about to say something, so she said, "Ron, calm down." Then she saw Harry was preparing to add a snide remark to Ron's being shushed, so Hermione turned to him and said, "Shut it, or I'll make you," she threatened with her wand. When she was sure both boys were listening, Hermione turned to Harry. "Ginny's gone."

After a period of silent shock, Harry finally said, "What?"

"She's gone because _Draco_—" Ron began to say.

"Draco's gone, too," Hermione said quietly.

"What? How?" Harry asked.

Tom Riddle's diary was next to Ron's foot, so he picked it up and opened it, but upon opening it, he heard Harry moan, back into the wall, and crumple to the floor. "Harry!" he yelled, true concern apparent in his voice.

"My scar," Harry cried weakly, his hand massaging his forehead.

"Ron, close the diary!" Hermione shouted, running to Harry's side. As soon as Ron shut the diary, Harry felt the pains slowly recede, but slight hints of it were still haunting his forehead.

"Harry, are you all right?" Hermione asked.

"Riddle has them?" Harry inquired, seeing the beaten diary in Ron's hands. "How do you know?"

"Why _else_ would the diary be in her room again?" Ron spat hotly.

"Yes, that's what we think," Hermione said, helping Harry back to his feet and glaring at Ron. "And Ron, yelling at Harry, or anyone else, is not going to bring Ginny back."

"Hear that, mate?" Ron said to Harry. "Yelling doesn't help any situation. Not even situations you walk into in the Room of Requirement!" Harry clenched his fists and Hermione felt him tense, but before he could say anything or throw any punches, Ron announced, "We've got to show this to Dumbledore. Let's go." He marched out the door.

As his footsteps began to recede down the stairs, Hermione bit her lip and tried not to look Harry in the eye. "We should go," she said softly. Then she walked out the door.

Speechless, Harry could only follow.

x x x

"I need to see the Headmaster. Now." Ron spoke authoritatively to Professor McGonagall, whom he found standing in Headmaster Dumbledore's office.

"I regret to inform you he is out for the day," McGonagall replied calmly.

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? I _NEED_ TO SPEAK WITH HIM!"

"Mr. Weasley, lower your tone and get a hold on yourself. While the Headmaster is out, he left me in charge, so if you would, please, proceed with what it is you need to tell him."

"I need to tell _him_, not you!" Ron spat.

Hermione pursed her lips in frustration and pushed Ron out of the way a little. "Professor," she said. "Ginny's missing, and so is Malfoy, er, _Draco_ Malfoy, that is, and we are led to believe they've gone missing due to foul play from Tom Riddle. Well, rather, the _spirit_ of—"

"Tom Riddle's diary? Again? Oh, dear me, you were right, Mr. Weasley. We _do_ need assistance from the Headmaster on this one. Please excuse me." With that, McGonagall hurriedly used a door at the back of Dumbledore's office to enter another room that neither Ron nor Hermione had ever noticed in all their times in the old Headmaster's office.

"Honestly, Ron, you really should use your head a little more in a situation so dire. Why couldn't you just tell Professor McGonagall about Ginny?" Hermione broke the silence a little roughly.

"What good would it have done? She's still calling for Dumbledore!" Ron yelled. As he said this, Professor McGonagall reentered the room.

"I've sent a Port Key with a Messenger Owl to the Headmaster's current location. He should be here any—"

Suddenly, a great brown barn owl popped into the office, clutching a coffee mug in one of his talons and waving around his other foot, which had a note tied to it. Hermione was closest to the bird, so she untied the note from its leg, careful not to touch the mug (rather, Port Key), and read the note aloud: "Sorry, but the contact you have sent this Messenger Owl to either does not exist or is not available to apparate. Please try again at another time more convenient for us."

"What is this blasphemy?" McGonagall thought aloud. "Wherever could he be?"

Just the time he would need a best friend to turn to, even though Ron was quite angry with him, he turned to find comfort in Harry, but—

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked.

Hermione whipped around to see behind her. "He was right behind me when we came up here!"

But Harry hadn't followed them up to Dumbledore's office. He had gone in search of more useful help, and he found it, too.

x x x

The last time he had been looking for Ron and Hermione, he had found them in the Room of Requirement, so who was to say it wouldn't work again? Harry quietly turned a corner without his friends noticing and walked to where the door to the Room of Requirement was supposed to be. He concentrated on his need to find Headmaster Dumbledore, and his need to see the door, and finally, the door materialized before him and he hastily twisted the doorknob.

In the pit of his stomach, he hadn't really expected to find the Headmaster there, but to his surprise, Dumbledore stared back at him when Harry opened the door. The Room of Requirement looked like a miniature version of Dumbledore's office, and the Headmaster looked utterly bewildered to be standing before Harry.

"Greetings, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, a little dazed. "I haven't the slightest idea how I came to be here, but, is there something I can do for you?" He peered down at Harry over his half-moon spectacles, smiling.

Harry swallowed. "Headmaster," he began, but then stopped. He knew he needed to tell Dumbledore about Ginny and Malfoy missing, but he knew this wasn't all he needed to speak with Dumbledore about. "I—"

"You look troubled, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore offered. "And this would be due to…" he trailed off.

"I'm not sure, sir," Harry replied. "I'm a little confused."

Dumbledore found a chair in his pseudo desk and sat down. "Confused with what, may I ask?"

"Well," Harry said, but then thought better. He just didn't know how to speak with Dumbledore over how he was feeling right now. "Actually, I came to you because Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy are missing."

Taken aback by the sudden change of topic, Dumbledore replied correspondingly. "What makes you say that?"

"Because they are," Harry said a little bluntly. He felt more like speaking now for some reason and added, "Tom Riddle's diary was found in Ginny's bedroom."

"Merlin," Dumbledore said. "That can't be good news. Come," he motioned Harry out of the Room of Requirement. Dumbledore then began walking away, and once again, Harry had no choice but to follow.

x x x

Draco landed with a thud when the world stopped spinning. He quickly got up and looked around. He was in a relatively small room with three wood-paned walls and one wall covered by a large red curtain. There was a bed in the corner of the room and a cabinet next to it. He knew what was in the cabinet, and though he had never been inside this room before, he knew where he was. He was in his father's brothel.

Sure, it was a tad degrading to tell your friends that your father owned a cathouse (which is why he didn't tell them), but Draco had always supposed something had to put food on the table. No matter how much his father sniffed around the Ministry of Magic, he had never really worked there.

Draco almost sat down on the bed, but then thought twice of it as he imagined everyone else who had _sat_ on the bed as well. When he turned around, his father stood before him; he hadn't even heard him apparate into the room.

"Father," Draco addressed his parent with a curt nod.

"Son," Lucius returned the nod.

There was an odd silence before Draco finally said, "Father, what am I doing here?" He had technically been kicked out of the Malfoy family, and now finding himself before his father, having this conversation (if you could call it that) with him was, indeed, odd.

"I think it is time I teach you a lesson," Lucius said in his monotonous voice.

"I thought that's what Riddle was for," Draco said, hints of annoyance flashing throughout his voice.

"Riddle," Lucius mused, steepling his fingers in front of his face and looking at his son with a purely wicked smirk. "_That_ is a young man any father would appreciate as a son."

Draco felt the blood boil in his cheeks and he huffed a breath of frustration, or maybe defiance, through his nostrils.

"Pure genius," Lucius continued on. "But he sure does like to play, and has the most interesting taste in _toys_."

Draco had no idea where this was going, but at that, he watched as his father walked to the red curtain on the wall opposite him, expensive Russian boots clicking on the cold stone floor as he made his way there. With one swift movement of his arm, the curtains parted, and Draco felt his stomach and all his intestines melt away when he saw what was behind curtain number one.

Draco laid his eyes on an unconscious Ginny Weasley, shackled to the wall opposite him. She was shackled in an upright position, though her head lolled every so often. Her long arms were restrained above her head, crossed at the wrists, and her ankles were left to simply hang there.

He instantly ran toward Ginny, but with an elementary restraining charm from his father's wand, Draco found that he could not move. "Father, let her go!" Draco insisted. His father had not released the restraining charm, so Draco was forced to stand motionlessly, staring at Ginny's sleeping form.

"I cannot," Lucius replied, flipping open his pocket watch to check the time.

Suddenly, Draco heard a faint pop from behind him. Lucius cocked an eyebrow in the direction the newest addition to the room had come from and said in his cold Malfoy drawl, "Promptness has never been a forte of yours, did you know?"

Tom Riddle came into Draco's view. The boy cringed internally as he felt prickles of sensation run along his skin. Restrained as he was, for just a moment, by instinct, he tried to clasp his hands around his neck so as to protect himself from the dark vampire's anxious fangs.

"One can make up for what he lacks in other areas, Lucius. You, of all people, should know." Riddle eyed Draco, and Draco felt his father huff angrily. Nothing to defend against the indirect insult was offered from his father.

Riddle continued to eye Draco, and only looked away when he heard a noise from across the room. It was Ginny, and she was beginning to wake up.

"Ginny!" Draco said, not as loudly as before.

Draco's father glowered at his son. "This will be the last time I will take it upon myself to remind you to shut your incessant mouth." He bit out the words. "Besides, she can neither see nor hear you, which will make things easier, so please spare us all from your vain attempts to gain her attention."

Draco felt his temples redden. So Ginny didn't even know he was in the room? What was his father up to?

"Finally awake, Ginny?"

Riddle had spoken, and at hearing his voice, Draco could see a groggy Ginny immediately tense her muscles. She was perfectly awake now and tugging on her restraints. Draco saw her eyes gaze her way for just a moment, and he guessed she could see his father. With one more fruitless attempt at moving, Draco groaned inwardly and finally stood still, waiting to see what Riddle was up to.

"Let me go," Ginny said rather calmly, determined not to sound like she was scared. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes next, Riddle's face was an inch in front of hers. Lips pursed shut, she almost gasped aloud, but managed to stifle herself; however, her wide eyes gave her away. She was terrified, and Riddle knew it. Then again, in her situation, who _wouldn't_ be terrified?

"Just like little Malfoy. So brave." Riddle saw something flicker in Ginny's eyes. "_Was_ so brave," he added offhandedly.

"What've you done with him?" Ginny screamed, futilely.

_I'm fine! Don't worry about me!_ Draco wished he could say.

Riddle curled his neck around Ginny's, just as a snake might, and whispered in her ear. "Would you like to join him? Join pretty little Malfoy with that long, ivory neck of his?" Riddle slowly licked Ginny's neck, savoring the feeling of her quickened pulse on his tongue, the sweet taste of the perspiration leaking from her pores, and the feeling of her hot, panicked breathing on his face.

Though Draco did not know what Riddle was telling Ginny, he knew what the vampire wizard had in mind. "Riddle, stop! Please!" He begged, though still restrained.

Riddle's mouth was slightly open as he listened to Draco's plea, and Ginny was shaking as she waited for Riddle's fangs to sink into her skin. He moved a little closer to Ginny's neck, his fangs just brushing her flesh.

"I said for you to take me instead! Stop—!" Draco gasped, and suddenly, he could feel himself moving again, though it wasn't because the restraining charm on him had worn out—his father had slapped him across the face and he felt himself flying through the air.

"I told you to hold your tongue!" Lucius growled at his son through gritted teeth.

"Draco!" Ginny wheezed, for Riddle's hand was against her throat now. She winced slightly as Riddle's grasp on her neck tightened at the sight of Draco. The boy was visible again and was able to move as well. Then, a slight glimmer of hope filled Ginny as she saw Draco charging in her direction; he seemed completely set on pummeling the vampire wizard senseless. A second later, however, Ginny no longer felt Riddle's fingers on her throat, nor could she feel his putrid breath on her neck. Instead, Riddle had used his vampire speed to now pin Draco to the opposite wall. The dark wizard's grip on Draco's neck was tight, and it was all he used to keep Draco in place on the wall. The pale boy seemed to have had the air knocked out of him, and though he was breathing hard now and winced slightly every so often, he kept eye contact with the vampire.

Riddle turned to look at Ginny. "You two are simply adorable. Did you know little Malfoy has offered to trade places with you?"

"Draco, no! You can't! Let him go, Tom!" Ginny yelled.

"Don't listen to her," Draco muttered. Though he wished he could bolt right there and run for his life, morally, this seemed the right thing to do. Funny, though. Since when did _morals_ ever play a large role in his life? Draco had been brought up to cheat and steal through life—to ensure a win and positive results benefiting only himself, no matter what the consequences to other people may have been. However, he reminded himself that he wasn't a classified Malfoy anymore. Sure, he had been kicked out of his family, his father wished for nothing more than to see him dead, and the Dark Lord wished _now_ to scrutinize every aspect of his life, but Draco did not care. For once, something—some_one_ was more important to him. "Have your way with me, Riddle," Draco said meekly. "Just don't hurt her."

Without another word, Riddle's mouth swooped out of view and Draco felt it make contact, then puncture through the skin on his neck. The boy closed his eyes and let out a half-stifled groan through gritted teeth. Though Draco was unrestrained, he fought the urge to slap the dark wizard away. He cursed inwardly at his decision to suddenly be just and noble to the promise he had made to Riddle, but as much as he cursed, he remained still, and as promised, allowed Riddle to suck his blood out of his neck.

It seemed that Riddle intentionally sucked the blood slowly, hoping to prolong Draco's pain that much longer, but the boy, paling second by second, remained strong even though he felt as though Riddle was sucking all the blood out of his body. His neck began to pulsate as Riddle greedily sucked his blood through the wounds on his neck, and at one point, the pulsating was pounding in his ears, and he felt himself begin to go numb. However, through it all, he heard Ginny call out to him. Unable to get to him, she unavailingly tugged at the bonds on her wrists and cried for his sacrifice.

The room around him began to dim, and suddenly he could not feel his arms anymore as they dangled limply at his sides. His legs soon abandoned him, and though he could not feel it, Riddle placed a hand on Draco's back and held him as though they were dancing and Draco had gone down in a dramatic dip.

He caught sight of his father through his peripheral vision, so he averted his gaze. With one last look at Ginny, the world around him failed to exist and he fell into a quiet, peaceful pool of darkness.

x x x

With Draco unconscious, it was no longer pleasing or arousing to suck his blood, so with his subject spent, he ruthlessly removed his hands from him and the translucent boy fell silently to the floor next to his father's foot.

Lucius winced and quickly moved his foot away as if the trash he believed his son to be would soil his expensive boots. He looked at Riddle, and Riddle looked at him. Lucius almost shivered as a sinister smirk spread across the vampire wizard's face as he used the back of his hand to wipe Draco's blood off his chin. Riddle was not permitted to bite any of the Dark Lord's servants, and Lucius Malfoy knew that, but still, the fact that Riddle _could_ bite him if he ever wished to do so sent shivers up Lucius' spine.

Ginny sobbed silently, the tears rolling freely down her face, as she could not use her hands to wipe them away. She had been so mean to Draco. She had surely hurt him when she told him she could no longer see him. She had basically thrown him out of her room, and had hoped to have him believe out of her _life_. However, she still loved Draco. She had loved Draco all along, and had only hoped to prevent Riddle from hurting him. But Ginny understood now that even if she had hexed Draco all the way to the doldrums in a boat with no oars and no wand, he would've still found a way to get to her.

The girl looked up and saw Riddle eyeing her.

"Please, just let me go," she said softly.

"Go?" Riddle guffawed. "Why would I ever do a thing like that?"

"You promised!" Ginny cried. "You made a deal with Draco!"

"Right," Riddle said bluntly. "I made a deal with Draco, and I kept my end of the bargain, too. I bit him instead of you. But you must learn to read the fine print, dear."

Ginny's eyes widened.

"You may not be receiving my bite tonight, but I have many more things I can give you."

As Ginny watched a sneer slither its way onto Riddle's face, she knew whatever was coming couldn't be good.

**Author's Note:** This chapter took long enough, didn't it? But the delay in publishing this one is partially due to the fact that I broke my finger in the middle of this all (it's okay now!). That, and the fact that this chapter's about a third longer than most of my other chapters… and also because I'm the queen of laziness! However, I've finally received an acceptance letter from my university of choice, so I won't be hitting the books _as_ hard for a couple more months, so hopefully you can expect the next chapter a tad sooner. Oh, yeah. Sorry to reintroduce the whole vampire thing again (Get it? "Reflecting Shadows"!)… but if you've already read through DINB and are now reading through JS, you should know I've got a vampire fetish… and a long neck fetish. ;) Anyway, thanks for reading and sticking with me!

**Chapter Five:** Like I said, return of the vampire-ness! We'll definitely find out what Riddle has in mind for Ginny, and I can't say that's good. And while we see what Dumbledore's course of action will be, we must stop to wonder what's up with Harry! I think you know by now I completely _love_ the angsty Harry in OotP! So, until next time! Keep reading and reviewing! It's fuel, I tell ya!

My lovely reviewers: **Chantelle**, **bigreader**, **Jixnce**, **Jonah**, **Twerksie Gogara Relffin**, **Andromeda77**, **Sasha**, **otterhead**, and **Ashe**.


	5. Wildfire

_Warning: This chapter contains language and slight references to adult sexuality._

**Chapter 5: Wildfire**

Draco awoke to a dark world. It was cold, dank, and dreary, and he could tell by the dancing shadows before him that the only light emitted in the area before him came from a candle or some sort of torch placed far away and above him. 

His vision was blurry, his head groggy, and his limbs heavy, but he knew he could not just lay there and go back to sleep, as much as he wished he could. His body seemed not to know where the muscles controlling his legs were located, so Draco used his arms to drag himself about the ground. Where to? —He only wished he knew. 

But after a few minutes' moving about, Draco realized he was outside Hogwarts on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. His mind tried to register when he'd been about these parts of the castle grounds before, and he suddenly remembered. The half-giant! His hut was somewhere nearby. 

Under normal circumstances, Draco would've preferred dying over seeking help from a creature as revolting as _Hagrid_ (they had gone so far as to _name_ him!), but he knew this was no time to be thinking about what he preferred. Ginny was in danger, and for her, he would endure anything. 

By the time Draco reached the front door of the sodden hut, he was breathing heavily, sweating profusely from the effort it had taken him to drag himself so far, and smelling of only what Merlin knew was scattered about the muddy ground he had slid through. 

"Hagrid!" He called out. His voice felt as though he hadn't used it in a long time and he realized just how thirsty he was. With much effort, Draco flung the arm closest to the door in an attempt to knock. "Help! Someone!" He groaned and cursed inwardly. _He isn't home! Where else could an oaf like him need to be at this hour?_ Draco's breathing was haggard and he could feel his body begging him to just close his eyes and go back to sleep. 

Suddenly, Draco heard a sound behind him. He turned his head, and through a face of dark, bushy brown hair, he met the two tiny, twinkling eyes of the half-giant, staring at him in surprise. "Malfoy!" Hagrid cried aloud, dropping the pile of logs he'd been carrying on his shoulder. "Malfoy, what's wrong?" 

And just as the half-giant knelt next to him, Draco managed to mutter another cry for help before he felt himself give in to his physical need and close his eyes once again. 

x x x

Hagrid, as well as all the other Hogwarts staff, had been informed on the missing Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy. As much as he couldn't stand the youngest Malfoy, Hagrid hoped that _both_ children would soon return safely back to Hogwarts, but when he came across Draco Malfoy sprawled across the threshold of his home, he was worried for Draco, but even more for Ginny's safety. 

As Hagrid cradled Draco's limp body in his arms much like he had during the boy's third year, he wondered just where Ginny Weasley was right now. He carefully made his way through the darkness to the hospital ward. If they could treat one of their own like this, what were they doing to Ginny? 

x x x

"Minerva, I received your summoning request," Dumbledore said stoically as he entered his office, followed by Harry. The headmaster eyed Ron and Hermione standing next to the professor. "I trust you already know of the situation then?" 

"Yes, Albus, I've been informed. How should we go about retrieving Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Weasley?" She asked worriedly. 

"We need to go in there and get Ginny out!" Ron suddenly hollered, shaking his clenched fists. 

Dumbledore lowered his eyes. "I am afraid we should avoid making rash decisions as such, Mr. Weasley. The people we are dealing with are not afraid to harm your sister or Mr. Malfoy. It is, indeed, our move, but we must think carefully before treading forward." 

Hermione nodded. "Please, headmaster, we'll do anything at all to help." 

"Now that you mention it, I think it is best that you three return to your dormitories for the night." Before Ron could speak in protest, Dumbledore continued. "It is late, and you may need to save your strength for later battles." He gave the trio a curious look before turning away. 

Professor McGonagall bid the three a goodnight and assured Ron one more time that he would be the first to know if any new information regarding the safety of his younger sister was discovered. 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked through the corridors in silence for a while until Harry finally spoke. "Y'know, I'm sorry, Ron." 

Ron stopped abruptly. "What?" 

Hermione gasped at hearing Harry speak so suddenly. 

"I'm sorry that Ginny's gone missing and I'm sorry for—" 

"For being a prat?" Ron offered. 

Hermione winced, but Harry only sighed. "I was going for bad friend, but fine, prat." 

"Well, thanks," Ron said. 

"For what?" Harry asked. 

"For being sorry, I guess," Ron answered. "I mean, I know that you'll always be in the spotlight, Harry, and I know that you really wish more than anything you could just hide out in the shadows, but," Ron paused a bit. "Getting left out of everything really can get to a guy, y'know? And when you got so upset over Hermione and me, I just didn't know what to do." He looked Harry in the eye now and changed subjects slightly. "I'll always have your back, mate, but it's a difficult thing to do when I never get included in anything. I bet everyone thinks I'm the dumb sidekick." 

Harry gave Ron a wry smile and Hermione felt herself smile at Harry's change in expression. "Well, you're a loyal sidekick, and if I'm supposed to have any sort of sidekick, there's no one I'd want more to fill that position than you. And you, too, Hermione." 

Hermione beamed. 

"And seeing as _angsty Harry Potter_ has caused so much trouble, I'd just like you two to know that I'm happy for you. For being together and all. I'm happy because the both of you are happy, and nothing more than that makes me happy," Harry said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and blushing a bit at speaking so truthfully to his friends. 

"Actually, we've been talking Harry," Hermione finally spoke. "We're putting our relationship on a hiatus." She saw Harry gawk at her. "We still like each other very much," she smiled at Ron, "but with the Dark Lord back in power, there just isn't time for a relationship of any sort. We have other things we need to concentrate on." 

"Like finding Ginny," Ron said. 

Harry gaped. "So you're not together anymore?" 

"No?" Ron shrugged sheepishly. 

Harry didn't know what to think. They had mentioned that part of the reason for the hiatus on their relationship had to do with the Dark Lord, and he assumed that the other things they had to worry about was watching over his back. His friends were sacrificing their own lives for him once again! 

"You guys," Harry sighed. "I really don't think sticking it to the Dark Lord is reason enough to stop your relationship." 

"And just an hour ago you were ready to wring my neck for seeing Hermione!" Ron scoffed, grinning. 

"Really, Harry," Hermione assured. "Ron and I discussed this and feel it is best to put our relationship on a hiatus. It's a temporary halt to things, if you will. Things are just too crazy right now. Especially with Ginny gone, Ron's a right mess." 

"And you think I _shouldn't_ be a right mess—?" 

The trio had been walking through the corridors, speaking to one another rather animatedly, and hadn't noticed whether or not anyone was walking before them. Ron had run right into Hagrid's chest. 

"Hagrid!" Hermione cried aloud as she and Harry helped Ron back onto his feet. Hagrid looked a 'right mess,' as Hermione might say. He was panicked, his eyes wide, hands trembling. "Hagrid, what's the matter?" Hermione asked. 

"M-m-m-malfoy," he finally managed to stutter. "He's in the hospital wing. I've got to get to the headmaster!" And with that, the half-giant was thumping down the corridor, going the direction Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just come from. 

"Malfoy?" Ron shouted. "What if Ginny's there, too?" Ron bolted, heading for the hospital. 

"Ron, wait!" Hermione cried as she and Harry ran after him. 

In a matter of minutes, the three stood before the entrance to the hospital ward. "Should we go in?" Harry whispered. 

"Of course we're going in!" Ron rolled his eyes as he twisted the doorknob. The three peered into the room and found that Madam Pomfrey wasn't inside. "C'mon!" Ron motioned to his two friends. 

After spending so many years with her two best friends, Hermione was almost used to bending the rules every now and then. She ran to the clipboard on Madam Pomfrey's desk, flipped through the pages, and said, "Malfoy's in the twelfth bed on the left side." 

Even though Madam Pomfrey wasn't in the infirmary, the trio felt it necessary to whisper and tiptoe about. When they reached the curtain surrounding the twelfth bed on the left side of the room, Harry carefully pulled the curtain aside and gasped at what they saw. 

Draco Malfoy lay in the bed, sleeping quite peacefully. He was clad in a pair of polyester pajamas, something he'd throw a fit over once he woke up, and it looked as though he might have an extreme fever, for his face was damp with sweat and he looked even paler than usual. 

Harry crept closer to Draco and used the back of his palm to touch the sleeping boy's cheek, but immediately retracted his arm. "He's so cold!" He turned to Hermione. "Where's Madam Pomfrey? Something's seriously wrong with him. Look how much he's sweating, yet how cold he feels." 

Ron could only stare at the unconscious Slytherin boy, but Hermione went around to the other side of the bed and yelped at what she saw. She had jumped slightly, knocking a couple bottles over. She straightened them with trembling hands, but still goggled at Draco. 

"Hermione, what is it?" Harry asked with concern. 

Hermione placed two shaky fingers on Draco's neck before gently turning his face to reveal the four marks on Draco's neck. "Riddle bit him," she whispered. 

x x x

Ginny shivered. She shivered down to her bones. 

Tom Riddle had just ordered Lucius to use a Port Key to send his son back to Hogwarts since the boy was not needed anymore, and since Draco did not need to be watched over, Lucius had served his purpose in the room, so he left, thus leaving Ginny alone with Riddle. 

But at least Draco was safe. He was back at Hogwarts, so besides the fact that she was chained to a wall, getting back would be easier. It would be just _her_ getting back; not two separate people like it had been last time. 

_Last time_, Ginny thought. Her first stumbling upon the spirit of Tom Riddle had been a freak accident, but she had been wrong to assume it would therefore never happen again. But after all that from just months ago—_again_? Why was Riddle always after her? It seemed an odd coincidence, but Ginny was beginning to think that after a coincidence happened so many times, it wasn't a coincidence anymore, but merely a pattern leading to something else. But what? Whatever this pattern of events was leading her to, Ginny did not care to know. All she wanted was to get away from the Dark Lord, away from Riddle, and away from this ruddy mansion, or wherever it was they were holding her captive. 

Riddle interrupted her thoughts. "Pay attention, Virginia," he snapped. 

"My name is Ginevra," Ginny said placidly. 

Then Riddle's hand was a blur and Ginny felt a sting on the left side of her face, which soon began to pulsate. He'd slapped her. "I'm calling you Virginia, and you're going to like it and respond to it." 

Ginny glared. 

"Besides, Ginevra is such an ugly name. It's obvious you were bred in a rat's den." He smiled as Ginny's temples flared a bright red color. He wanted to ruffle her up a bit. He liked it when they were riled. She'd put up more of a fight that way. Riddle then gripped Ginny's chin in his hand and violently brought her face to his. Lips pursed tightly shut she was breathing hard through her nostrils, but he knew she was seething inside. Taking pleasure in her pain, Tom brought his other hand to Ginny's neck. 

For a fleeting instant he could see the girl thought he intended to bite her, but he'd made a deal and did not intend to break it. _Could_ not break it. Besides, he had better things in mind for the girl. 

Ginny's heart was racing when he felt the vampire wizard's spindly fingers unbutton her shirt ever so slowly. She could feel his quickened breath hit her bare chest now and she cried out instinctively when Riddle ripped the rest of the shirt off her since he could not slip it off her shoulders because her hands were still restrained. 

"Looks like someone's been a very good girl," Riddle hissed, fingering Ginny's bra. He began licking her chest, and then her shoulders, and ended by nibbling on her neck, careful not to bite her. All the while he was struggling to take his own cloak off. 

Ginny was panicking now. She knew what was coming and it was not a fitting bloody demise! However, when Riddle's cloak landed on the ground, she lifted her chin away from the vampire wizard's head on her neck and caught sight of his back—of the wand stuffed in his back pocket! 

Ginny's upper arms were beginning to numb, for Riddle was holding them tightly as he became more and more aroused with what he was doing to her, but she used all the will power within her being to keep calm. She needed to figure out how to get the wand from him without his knowing, and for now it seemed best to play along. Hopefully she would be able to steal Riddle's wand before things got out of hand. 

She clenched her eyes shut tightly and knew she would want to slap herself for what she was about to take part in, but there was no other way. "Oh, Tom!" Ginny heard her voice moan. She hoped it wasn't too showy, but she felt Riddle's mouth grin on her neck. She began to jangle the chains attaching her arms to the wall. If she could just get him to undo them! She pretended she wished she could touch and caress him as he groped her, but it seemed he was deaf under his pure enjoyment of the whole ordeal. 

"I knew I'd chosen wisely so many years back during our first encounter," Riddle placed a rough kiss on Ginny's ear. 

Suddenly, Ginny felt the breath cut off from her, for Riddle's mouth was now attached to her own. Ginny struggled at first to breath, trying to back into the wall as Riddle's tongue probed and explored every inch of her mouth. His tongue invited her tongue to explore the depths of his mouth, but Ginny dared not for fear of touching one of the deadly fangs growing from his gums. Her breath began to fill his lungs and his hot, putrid breath began forcing its way down Ginny's lungs as much as she tried to prevent it. She thought she could handle this if kissing and nibbling was all he planned to do, but she suddenly felt Riddle's hands leave her arms and rest on her breasts, and in no time at all his callused hands were squeezing her breasts with the intensity of his lust. 

She was beginning to think she'd gotten in way over her head, but all she did was blink, and when she opened her eyes, she lay on the bed that had been across the room only moments before. A shirtless Tom Riddle was on top of her and he was fumbling with the buttons on her pants, but her hands were free! Relieved for a sudden glimmer of hope, Ginny tried to quickly whip her hand to Riddle's backside before she felt his fingers leave her abdomen and pin her arm down. "No begging, Virginia," he cackled slightly as he lay on her with all his body weight. 

She felt the bile rise in her throat as she felt Riddle's hardened sex through the fabric of his trousers. But after one more hastened kiss, he still lay on her, but both hands were now fumbling with his own pants—this was her chance! In hopes of delaying his reactions if he sensed what she was doing, Ginny closed her eyes in disgust as her mouth latched onto Tom Riddle's neck. She wrapped an arm around his neck as she sucked, nibbled, and kissed it. With the other hand, ever so slightly, she made to place her hand on his back, but quick as lightning she felt her fingers wrap around the wooden hilt of the vampire wizard's wand and pulled with all her might. 

Ginny almost felt Riddle's eyes whip open and thought for an instant she saw the fires of Hell burning within the pitch-black pupils staring at her in furious rage. Ginny saw the vampire wizard bare his fangs at her. She felt as though her heart was in her throat as she turned away closing her eyes. She pointed the wand at the wizard and yelled out the first spell she could think of— 

"Wingardium Leviosa!" She cried aloud. 

Ginny slapped herself internally—harder than Riddle had slapped her before, as the half-naked form of Tom Riddle now floated in the air above her. It seemed even Riddle was surprised at the spell Ginny had cast, but she quickly corrected it with a gallant wave of her arm and bit out the next spell. "Petrificus Totalus, you bastard." She wished she'd levitated the vampire wizard a little higher before his frame stiffened and landed on the floor with a great thud, but this was the chance she needed to escape! 

She had to hurry before anyone found Riddle in the state she'd left him, and even if no one found him, she'd only used a simple first year charm on him, so it would be wearing off soon. Flustered in her hurry, she almost left without a shirt! The one she had been wearing before lay shredded on the floor, but she picked it up, crumpled it into a ball of fabric and held onto it. Then she picked up Riddle's silk black shirt, which lay forgotten near the floor next to the bed, and allowed it to slide onto her shoulders. She quickly buttoned up the shirt that was very loose on her tiny frame. She retrieved her fallen cloak, and was out the door in a flash, not even looking at the petrified form of her molester. The molester of her life. 

Once she'd fled through a few corridors, Ginny realized she hardly knew where she was, meaning there really was no hope of finding escape without wasting a lot of time. Out of breath, she paced about. She didn't dare open one of the doors in hopes of finding help—she was in Malfoy Manor! She couldn't even apparate out of here. 

But when she turned a corner, Ginny gasped as she saw a scoundrel of a man note her presence and casually walk into a room. Then he came back out to stare at Ginny's tattered form, but that was when Ginny remembered. She wasn't in Malfoy Manor. She was in a brothel! She could apparate out! With a curt nod and a meek smile at the man staring at her, Ginny turned to go back the way she had come, pretending she'd made a wrong turn, but once she was around the corner, she leaned against the wall. She felt as though this was the first time in a while she was finally able to breathe! 

_Draco, I'm coming!_ Ginny thought to herself in frantic glee. 

She closed her eyes, fingers tightly wrapped around Tom Riddle's wand, and whispered a spell to apparate to Hogwarts, but nothing happened. Ginny opened her eyes and blinked. Was it because she was using Tom's wand? She ran a finger up the long wooden stick, finding it odd just how much it felt like Harry's wand. Everyone on the face of the planet knew the Dark Lord and Harry had wands made of the same core, but it was just _odd_. It was like looking at a complete stranger and mistaking him or her for someone you know. Even though you realize the mistaken acknowledgement, you still wish you could hug or speak with this complete stranger in hopes of finding just a shred of your friend or loved one within this complete stranger. It was wonderfully comforting, but an absolute lie. 

But Ginny did not have time to further think of such things. She nearly kicked herself when she realized that in her panicked thinking she had tried to apparate to Hogwarts. Everyone knew no one could apparate into the school grounds! Hermione would've whacked her upside the head if she were here, though thank Merlin neither she, nor any of her other friends, wasn't. 

Grateful that no one else had come after her, she closed her eyes and apparated away within the blink of an eye. A faint pop and a quickly receding mist of smoke were the only evidence of her ever having been there at all. 

x x x

Harry suddenly hollered out in pain. Clutching his forehead, he backed into the curtain surrounding Draco's hospital bed and ripped it off its bindings as he fell onto it. 

"Harry, what's wrong?" Ron and Hermione chimed together. They ran to his side, but Harry was already getting back up when they reached him. He looked confused. 

"Voldemort," Harry whispered hoarsely. 

"What is it?" Hermione asked gently as Ron stared in complete shock. 

"I don't know," Harry stuttered, furrowing his brows. "It's okay, I'll be fine," he said as he got back on his feet. 

The three heard a pained moaning come from Draco. Immediately, Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed to his bedside. He blinked repeatedly to adjust his eyes to the dim light in the room, but his eyes were wide with shock in no time. "What're you lot doing here?" He cried aloud, trying to scoot away from them in his bed. 

"Malfoy, stop!" Harry said, raising his palms to face Draco, backing away slowly. "Just stay still—" 

"It's about bloody time you're up!" Ron growled, interrupting Harry. Hermione tried to elbow him for flustering Draco, but he moved away from her. "I really don't care how many times you want to go necking with that bloody Tom Riddle—" Draco slowly placed a hand on the side of his neck. It seemed he just now remembered he'd been bitten and his glazed expression made it look like all the memories from just hours before were flooding back to him. "—What is wrong with you?" Ron was still going. "You say you love my sister, but why weren't you thinking of her well-being? Where is she? Don't you think of her at all?" He finally ended, huffing and puffing for air, red in the face. 

Draco's head throbbed and no one wants to be awoken by an angry Ron Weasley, but his eyes widened at the Weasel's last few words. Finally, he slowly lifted his head and looked up at Ginny's brother. "I don't think there's a single moment I _don't_ think of her." 

Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing how terribly romantic Draco had just been, quite unintentionally, of course, for boys were thicker than, well, anything at all! But the fact that Draco looked so vulnerable now, so out of place in the hospital wing, clashing horridly with the polyester pajamas he wore—the fact that he felt this really _was_ his fault when it was true that it wasn't anyone's fault but Tom Riddle's… Hermione suddenly felt a happy feeling inside and hoped Ginny would return to Hogwarts soon so that she and Draco could be reunited. She was finally able to see how sincere and kind Draco could be and she was finally able to see what Ginny saw in Draco. 

People contain an equal balance of both good and evil. After reading so many books and analyzing many philosophies, Hermione decided that that was what she believed. All souls contain good and evil, but it is the choice of the soul-bearer, the person whom the soul resides in, to decide which aspect (good or evil) shall shine through. Once that decision is made, it is not likely that the person will make a complete switch and caress the opposite side that he or she did not allow to shine through, for humans are creatures of habit, but changing _is_ possible. This is what Hermione believed, but looking at Draco now, she knew her philosophy was true. Changing was rare, but possible. She knew it was true and Draco Malfoy was going to prove it. 

**Author's Note:** Ack! I'm so sorry this took so long to come out! I thought I'd be nice and not end in a cliffhanger just to make up for the delay of this chapter. :) Anyway, now that AP exams are over and I have 18 days until I graduate from high school, hopefully the next chapter will come out sooner. I'm so sorry once again for the delay! 

**Credits:** Thanks to Shattered Mirror by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes for inspiration in the vampire scenes (this is a GREAT novel to read) and Dreadful Sorry by Kathryn Reiss (also an awesome mystery book to read) for inspiration on the bit about many coincidences not being coincidences, but a pattern. 

**Chapter Six:** So… is Draco a vampire again or not? And now that Ginny's apparated out of the brothel, what'll she do and exactly where did she apparate? And could Ginny's thought on many coincidences adding up to a pattern or some ulterior motive be true? We'll see! ;) 

Thanks to **Twerksie Gogara Relffin**, **Ashe**, **Andromeda77**, **bigreader**, **Niles Chiku**, **Jamie**, **Jonah**, **remembrances**, and **GoldenFawkes** for stickin' with me! I hope this chapter hasn't let you down! 


	6. Doppelganger

**Chapter 06: Doppelganger**

Draco had fallen back to sleep in his hospital bed. Hermione sat in a nearby chair, head resting on a pillow at the foot of Draco's bed. Ron sat in a chair at the foot of the bed as well, his tired eyes locked on Draco's form. And Harry sat facing the window, his feet propped up on the windowsill as he balanced on the hind legs of the chair. 

It was ironic. But wasn't everything ironic in his life? Yes, but this was even more ironic than the everyday, run-of-the-mill ironic. He and his friends were sitting around Draco Malfoy's hospital bed, watching over him. And for no reason! He was under Madam Pomphrey's watch, so there honestly was no reason to be sitting there—Draco would be fine, yet here they were. 

Harry felt his lips curve into a wry smile as he stared at the moon. This was how things had started this time around. He'd jumped out the Astronomy Tower, and Draco had caught him. 

Harry turned around and eyed the still forms of his two best friends and silently thanked Draco. He owed him his life. Then he turned back to the window, his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. 

_Maybe people really_ can _change_, Harry thought to himself. 

x x x

"Merlin's _ass_! Get the bloody hell _over_ here, you cheap owl!" 

"Ron—_Ron_! It wants a cube of sugar and payment. Or something. Ron, stop chasing it!" 

"Harry, close the window!" 

Harry's eyes shot open and he consequently fell out of his chair. 

"Harry!" Ron yelled. 

Harry grimaced as he hurried back onto his feet and slammed the window shut. He turned around and gaped at what he saw. A tawny owl had some sort of postage, Ron was chasing it, and Hermione was chasing Ron (she probably didn't realize it either). 

Rolling his eyes, Harry reached into his pocket and produced a couple sickles. He whistled at the owl, which stopped midair, sending Ron and Hermione tumbling to the floor at the sudden change of direction. Harry waved the sickles around and the owl peacefully swooped down to Harry, took the payment in its beak, and stuck its leg out so Harry could untie the message. 

"_Told_ you so," Hermione groaned as she shoved Ron off her and got back up. "Who's it from?" 

Harry eyed the all-too-familiar scrawl. "Ginny!" He said in a daze. 

"What?" Ron nearly knocked Hermione off her feet as he ran to Harry. "What're you waiting for? Read it!" 

"She says, 'Hey, guys. It's me. I hope I didn't scare any of you. Well, I scared myself, but I'm okay. I've apparated to The Leaky Cauldron, but I don't have any money to use the floo to get to Hogwarts, and everybody knows you can't apparate to Hogwarts—" Hermione beamed at this, "—so I need someone to come get me. Oh! By the way, Hermione, the shirt you lent me sort of got ruined. Sorry. See you soon. Ginny.'" 

"Harry, lend me some money," Ron automatically said. 

"If you're thinking about getting to The Leaky Cauldron to get her on your own—" 

"I'll pay you back!" Ron insisted. 

"It isn't the money, mate. Tom Riddle's obviously after Ginny for some reason. They might even be following her now. You can't go alone!" 

"Following her?" Ron exclaimed. "Then what are we waiting for? Hermione—" 

"Shouldn't we tell Dumbledore about this?" Hermione put her hands on her hips, looking at the boys skeptically. 

"No, we shouldn't." 

The trio turned to see that the noise they'd caused had finally awoken Draco. He still looked very pale and perhaps a little sore, but it looked, for the post part, that Madam Pomphrey's healing techniques had worked quite well. 

"I'll go," Draco said. 

"_You_?" Ron said in disgust. "You're the whole reason why Ginny's in this mess in the first place!" He threw his arms up. "Over my dead body, Malfoy." Ron bit out every word. 

This is where Hermione would normally elbow Ron in the stomach or where Harry would whack him upside the head, but both could only stare. Hermione's eyes were wide, her features still, and Harry had gasped, not realizing that he was holding his breath. They had never seen Ron speak so passionately, threateningly, and hatefully all at once. 

"Ron—" Harry had started, but then Draco interrupted. 

"Shut it, Potter." Draco then shifted his gaze to Ron. "Over your dead body, Weasley?" Draco whipped the covers off the bed, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and stood up swiftly. "I'm already going to Hell. I don't see why I couldn't arrange for your request. Over your dead body?" Draco laughed softly. 

Ron gripped his wand tighter and swallowed. "Tough words from a guy clad in polyester." 

"I'll disregard that comment. He doesn't know any better, does he?" This question was directed toward Harry and Hermione. "At least he's got a smart girlfriend. Though I'm not sure how smart she'd have to be to pick a guy like _him_," Draco scoffed. 

Hermione's eyes were welling up with angry tears. 

"Draco, that is _enough_! Don't forget what we're all here to do—" 

"No, _Potter_, I think I've heard enough from _you_," Draco said with a sinister air to his voice. Before Harry could question what he meant, Draco had grabbed Hermione's wand from where she'd left it on the foot of his bed and pointed it at Harry's chest. "Sectumsempra!" 

Harry only had time to widen his eyes in horror before the spell threw him across the room and several gashes formed along his skin as blood spurted from the freshly drawn wounds. 

"Harry! No!" Hermione screamed, running to where the boy now lay unconscious. 

Ron stood in shock, his eyes darting from Harry to Draco. 

"I guess you could call that payback," Draco said rather cockily. Then he turned on Ron. "And I saved a special one for you." He swished his wand then pointed it at Ron, who was still in so much shock he didn't even see the spell coming. As the spell struck him, he spun in circles, his form became smaller and smaller until the spinning finally stopped and where Ron had been standing, lay a weasel. 

Draco laughed heartily. "That felt good." 

"Draco, how _could_ you?" Hermione shrieked. She began to get up, but Draco held up a hand, stopping her. 

"Don't even come near me, you Mudblood _filth_." He spat the words out. "Unless you want to join weasel here in bookworm form, I suggest you play nurse quietly." 

Then something quite strange happened. It might have been a trick of the light, or maybe Hermione was so startled with all the blood on Harry that she wasn't seeing correctly, but she could've sworn—no… no, it had to have been a trick of the light. 

But then Draco sneered at her and said. "By the way, it's _Malfoy_." And as he turned, Hermione was finally convinced she wasn't seeing things—his eyes flashed a blood-red color. With that, he jumped out the window, landed on the roof rather quietly, and was flying away on a broom by the time Hermione had made it to the window. 

x x x

Hermione had long since used Ron's wand to return Ron back to his human form and Harry was now sleeping in the bed Draco had been in a few minutes ago. She shook her head in disbelief. She really thought that Draco had changed. 

Ron saw her and got up from where he'd been sitting next to Harry. "Hermione, it's not your fault. You had no way of knowing." 

"Ron, if there's one thing Ginny's taught me, it's that you must have faith in people. I really thought he had changed. He _has_ changed—" 

"Into a vampire," Ron said bitterly. "Face the facts, Hermione." 

"No, Ron," she said. "I could just _feel_ it. Ginny could feel it, too! Don't tell me you have no faith in her judgement." 

Ron sighed and crossed his arms. "All right, he tricked us all. I'm not going to sit here and argue about my _faith_ in him. We need to find him before he finds Ginny." 

"But what about Harry?" Hermione asked. 

"He's obviously not coming!" Ron hollered. "We don't need Harry to do everything, dammit!" 

Hermione flinched at that and Ron seemed to realize how forcefully he'd been speaking. "Sorry," he muttered. "It's just that—" 

"I know," Hermione said understandingly. 

"You stay with him," Ron said. "I'll fetch Ginny." 

She looked at Ron worriedly. "Will you be okay?" 

Ron gazed out the window into the moonlit fields of Hogwarts. The light from the moon illuminated his face, though his features were very dark. He turned and gave Hermione a wry smile. "I'm the sidekick. Of course I'll be okay!" He began climbing out the window. 

Hermione fingered Harry's hand and knew she needed to stay with Harry. She looked up just in time to see Ron mount the broom he had summoned. "Just be careful! And come straight back, Ron!" 

He raised a hand in acknowledgement, and within seconds, was zooming away into the oncoming night. 

x x x

Since escaping Hogwarts, Draco had ripped a nearby shop's door off its hinges, shed the polyester pajamas he'd been wearing for new Armani brand clothes, and had knocked out three muggles to drink their _blood_. 

And now he had arrived at The Leaky Cauldron, after another half-hour of flying. He walked toward the front doors, bloodlust staining his thoughts, even though he'd just fed, and evil intentions splaying across his mind. 

_Stop_, Draco willed himself. But he could feel his body intently moving closer and closer toward the building entrance. 

He knew that Ginny was in there, yet he had no control over his body. What was going on? Sure, he'd been thinking about turning Ron into a weasel for a while, but the spell on Harry? Where had that come from? 

It was as though his body had woken up, but not his entire mind. He could see everything through his eyes, and he was doing awful, _horrible_ things, yet he had no control over any of it. 

But Ginny was inside The Leaky Cauldron! 

_Stop moving! Sleep! Stand still! Turn around!_ Draco was shouting inside his mind. 

He felt his arms raise and push open the doors to The Leaky Cauldron, and a sweet, familiar voice coming closer and closer. 

"Draco! Draco, you're all right! I'm so happy to see you!" 

He turned to see Ginny running toward him. It was as though everything was happening in slow motion. Draco wanted to throw his hands up to keep Ginny away, not because he didn't want her, but because he didn't know what he would do with her. But when he tried to move his hands to push her away, he instead felt his arms passionately receive Ginny's hug. Then his arms held her still and he just looked at her for a moment. She looked dreadful. Her face was blotchy from the tears she'd cried, she was wearing some sort of makeshift rag as a shirt, and she had dirt all over her face, arms, and legs. But she was okay. 

But not for long. 

He felt his head move closer and closer to her face. 

Ginny had closed her eyes, ready for the kiss that wasn't going to come, since Draco could see that his mouth wasn't headed anywhere near Ginny's mouth, but toward her _neck_! 

**Author's Note:** I'm the worst at updating this fic, am I not? And this was such a short chapter, too! Well, now I'm in college/university (majoring in chemical engineering), so things won't be getting any better. Though know that I'm not a quitter, so if you've stuck with me this far, then I hope you will stay with me until this fic ends (it's estimated to be about ten chapters long). Thanks! 

**Chapter Seven:** So Draco's possessed or something, Ginny's about to be bitten by a vampire, Harry's out of commission, Ron's playing hero, and Hermione's playing nurse. Stick around, kids! I'd say the action's just getting started! 

Huge thanks to **Caeline**, **bigreader**, **Niles Chiku**, **ugahill**, **Jonah**, **GoldenFawkes**, and **Andromeda77** for stickin' with me this far! 


	7. Interlude

**Chapter 7: Interlude**

_The nightmare is finally over._

That was Ginny's first thought the moment she saw Draco walk into The Leaky Cauldron. Caught in her excitement and relief, she rushed at him and threw herself into his arms—she'd always wanted to do that. Just throw herself into his arms like that. And maybe she'd do it more often. It seemed as though Draco didn't quite mind, as he embraced her for quite a while before finally pulling away.

"Draco, I'm so happy to see you. And I can't believe you're all right! I mean, _I'm_ all right, and _you're_ all right! Merlin, I'm just so happy!" Ginny cried aloud. She wanted to hug Draco again right then, but as soon as she met his eyes, she couldn't look away.

Draco stared at her silently, taking in every inch of her face, every freckle, crease, and color, mapping out all the territories of her countenance—the mountain that was her nose, the oceans that were her eyes…

Draco slowly began moving his face forward.

"Oh, Draco," Ginny whispered. Knowing where this was going, she closed her eyes, more than ready for his kiss.

_Please! Stop! Don't hurt her!_ Draco was shouting in his mind the whole time. He didn't know why he couldn't control his own body. He was grateful he hadn't completely lost his mind yet, but Ginny! _God! Move!_ Draco wanted to shout at her. But he could only feel his face moving closer and closer to her neck.

_STOP!_

Ginny opened her eyes and looked up. Draco had suddenly stopped, and the grip on her arms had tightened. "Draco?" She said warily, her eyes wide. She looked at her arms. "Draco, let go. You're hurting me," she said worriedly. But then she looked at him more intently and noticed that his head was shaking. It was as though his body wanted to move his face closer to her, but some invisible force was stopping him from doing so.

"St—" Draco suddenly wheezed.

Horror-stricken, Ginny tried to get away from him, but Draco was holding her too tightly. "Draco, let go!" She said with more force this time. She tried pulling away as hard as she could, but all to no avail. Draco's head was still shaking in the same manner. Ginny looked at his eyes again, but now they had watered up. There were tears in his eyes.

"Please!" Draco suddenly said in a shuddering gasp.

"Please? Please _what_, Draco?" Ginny asked, panicked.

And then Draco gave a choked gurgling sound before his face suddenly started plunging toward her neck, faster than she could believe. Ginny turned her head away and heard herself scream, but when she ran out of breath to scream, she opened her eyes and blinked. No one was holding her arms anymore. She felt her neck with shaky hands and discovered no bite marks. And then she looked on the floor and found an unconscious Draco Malfoy before her.

"Draco!" Ginny jumped as she rushed toward him. But before she could get to where he lay, someone caught her arm. Ginny turned and met the face of her older brother. "Ron?" She looked from Ron to Draco and back again. "Ron, what're you doing here?"

"Saving your life? Again?" Ron bit out. "You're ever so welcome," He said dryly.

"Ron, something's wrong with Draco. We've got to get him back to Madam Pomphrey," Ginny said.

"Nothing is _wrong_ with Malfoy here. Well, he's a little psychologically disturbed, definitely, but nothing you'd classify as wrong."

"Ron, what're you saying?" Ginny let out an exasperated sigh.

"Gin, do you know why Harry isn't here? Or Hermione? Do you know why only I am here to get you?" Before Ginny could answer, Ron spoke again. "Oh. That would be because Draco randomly attacked Harry with a Sectum-whatever spell and basically made Harry implode. Then he turned _me_ into a weasel. And now Hermione's back at Hogwarts keeping an eye on Harry. Who is injured. Because of _him_," Ron pointed seethingly at the spot where Draco lay.

Taken aback, Ginny said, "What? What're you talking about?"

"Malfoy. He isn't just an asshole boyfriend. He's a Death Eater."

"WHAT!" Ginny shrieked. The few people at The Leaky Cauldron had already begun to look in her direction. It was lucky that the tables around them hid Draco's unconscious form. She lowered her voice. "Ron, that's rubbish."

Obviously not caring about the people staring, Ron threw his arms into the air and hollered. "_RUBBISH_! One of our best friends nearly bled to death, Malfoy blatantly _attacked_ us, and you're telling me this is _rubbish_!"

Ginny hesitated a moment. "Well… Ron, we just need to get him back to the Infirmary."

"Oh? So he can kill us all when he wakes up? I'm honestly surprised I could knock him out at all. What—with such a thick head and all? You'd think all that conditioner in his hair would serve as _some_ sort of protection."

"Speaking of thick heads," Ginny growled as she glared at her brother.

"Yeah! Speaking of thick heads? Malfoy here just tried to take a chunk out of your _neck_! And you still want to be near him. And you're telling _me_ I have a thick head?" Ron huffed.

"Can we please just take him back?" Ginny sighed.

"No," Ron said.

"We can't just leave him here to rot and die," Ginny said, disgusted.

"Uh, yeah. We can." Ron said bluntly.

"Ron, you know we can't. Just put your hatred toward him aside. Please? Something's obviously wrong with him."

"With his _mind_, you mean," Ron crossed his arms over his chest.

"Actually, I think you're right," Ginny said. Ron blinked when he heard his sister agreeing with him. "It's weird, but I think he's possessed. Or something. He's still got his mind, I think. When he was trying to bite me, well, there was a minute where he just paused. Like, he was trying to stop himself. I think he said 'stop' and 'please'. He was trying to stop himself from biting me."

Ron rolled his eyes. "For all you know, he was probably sputtering foam."

"He doesn't have rabies, Ron," Ginny rolled her eyes in return. "And you can't spontaneously sputter 'please', no matter how hard you try."

"Just don't talk to me anymore about this. I'm only agreeing to bring him back because Hermione would probably be upset about me leaving this monster in public."

"Don't call him a monster," Ginny said.

"Okay. I'm only agreeing to bring him back because Hermione would probably be upset about me leaving this butterfly fairy princess in public."

"Shut it, Ron. Do you have the money?" Ginny put her hands on her hips.

Ron knew he'd probably end up regretting bringing Draco back with them, but when Ginny was in one of her moods, well, it was like trying to stop his mother when she was in one of _her_ moods. Almost near impossible. Which was why no one had been able to tell her to stop making those wool sweaters every Christmas. Because once you have ten or twelve of them, you're pretty much set for life with the wretched things. Except for Harry, of course, who actually _liked_ the sweaters. Only Merlin knew why. Well, maybe not even Merlin knew.

"I hope you know you're paying me back for having to pay extra to Floo Malfoy here." Ron told Ginny as they lined up in front of the fireplace.

Ginny looked skeptically at Ron. "That's Harry's money."

"No, it's not," Ron said, looking away. Under his breath, he muttered, "Half is Hermione's."

x x x

Draco awoke with a startle. His first thoughts were about Ginny and her safety, but he slowly turned his head and found himself staring at her face. And thankfully, he wasn't trying to bite her neck.

"You're not going to try and kill me again, are you? Because that would be awkward," Ginny smiled. She used her fingers to move some hair off Draco's forehead. Then she turned and said, "Hey, guys. He's awake."

Shortly after, Ron and Hermione stood next to Ginny, who was still sitting on Draco's bed in the Infirmary.

"What happened?" He finally muttered. His head was throbbing.

"You're a half vampire again. Well, sort of," Ginny said sadly.

"No!" Draco shouted. He tried to get up then, but was immediately pushed back down by Ginny and Hermione.

"Yes," Hermione said calmly. "Let me explain."

Ron was sighing quite obviously and rolling his eyes. Until Hermione elbowed him.

"The first time Riddle bit you, you turned into a vampire. You were basically a completely different person, completely controlled by bloodlust alone. But now that you've turned into a vampire again, the affects of being a vampire aren't as strong this time around. From what Ginny tells me, it seems your physical being and part of your mind is controlled by bloodlust, but your subconscious mind—basically the little 'voice' most people ignore, is _not_ being controlled by your bloodlust."

Draco slowly scooted up the headboard and sat up in his bed. "This sounds like a load of crap."

Hermione's mouth fell open. "What? Why? I explained it quite clearly!"

"If I'm _really_ a vampire, why am not trying to bite you guys right now?" Draco crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow at Hermione.

"Apparently not clearly enough," Ron muttered.

Hermione sighed. "Fine, I forgot to tell you about that part. You should remember from when Professor Lupin was here that he subdued his werewolf being by taking the wolfsbane potion. Madam Pomphrey has concocted a similar serum, only that it subdues your vampire being." Hermione reached behind her and showed Draco a bottle. "See? Here's some more for when the current dose runs out."

Slowly, Draco said, "And when does the dose run out? And what happens then? And am I a freak like this forever?"

"That's the thing. We don't know when it runs out," Hermione said. "Vampires are creatures who are quite nearly extinct at this point. Well, I really shouldn't call them creatures, they were human at one point." Then she looked at Draco and corrected herself. "Well, they _are_ human. But Madam Pomphrey basically made up this potion. Since there aren't many vampires in the world, most people who have been turned into vampires were turned by choice, and if they weren't turned by choice, then they never really found medical assistance in time to halt the process."

"Halt the process?" Draco asked. He hated being so dependent on someone else's information.

"Yes. Madam Pomphrey says that she believes there is a way to stop the process. She's never actually had a vampire patient before—I mean, how odd is that? But she's got her medinurses researching it right this minute."

"And why isn't _she_ researching it?" Draco asked bitterly.

Hermione suddenly fell silent.

"She's tending to Harry," Ginny said quietly.

"Tending to—" Draco sputtered.

"You remember what you did, don't you?" Ron bit out.

"Ron, stop," Ginny said. "He wasn't himself."

"So, tell me. What _is_ he like as himself?" Ron then rounded on Ginny. "Is he what he's like when he's with you? Or when he's playing Death Eater with his daddy dear? Or when he's with his Slytherin trash? Or when he's—"

"Ron, that's _enough_!" Ginny stood up. "Just leave him alone, okay? Honestly, sometimes I wonder if it's _your_ fault that you two never got along. Harry's had his issues with Draco, but he's trying to make the best of the situation."

"I'm sure he'd have something else to say if he wasn't bleeding to death at the moment," Ron said. He saw Draco's eyes widen. "That's right, Malfoy. Harry's bleeding to death. Bet your father'll be really proud of you now. You _killed_ Harry Potter."

"Ron!" Hermione protested.

"You might even get your own tattoo now!" Ron's lips twisted into a hideous grin. "You might even—"

"Harry Potter is not dead."

Everybody turned to see Harry casually walking toward the lot of them.

"Harry!" Hermione cried out. "Harry, you're okay!"

"Just a little cut up and bruised, but I've been through worse," he said as he made his way toward Draco. He stared at the blonde in the bed. "You okay?"

Draco gawked. He still couldn't remember the spell he'd hurtled at Harry hours before, but he remembered all the red—all the blood, yet here he was, the freaking Boy-Who-Lived, asking _him_ if he was all right, when he'd nearly killed Harry. "Yeah," Draco muttered. "About… about the spell that I—"

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, turning to walk away.

"Look, I didn't mean to—I wasn't—"

"I said don't worry about it," Harry said again, then he turned when he got to the door. "Like you said, you sort of owed me." Then he stuck his head back through the door. "Ron, could you come out here for a minute?"

Ron, surprised to hear his name so suddenly, gave a confused look to Ginny and Hermione before walking toward the door. "Yeah, sure."

x x x

After closing he door behind him, Ron turned to face his friend. "What's up, mate?"

"Ron, that's weak," Harry said, his back against the wall. "What's up with _you_?" Harry turned his face to look at Ron. "Why are you being such a prat toward Malfoy? For all you know, he could be _related_ to you some day. I bet in some distant, weird way, you two are related. I mean, _I'm_ related to him through Sirius, in a way."

"I am not being a prat toward Malfoy," Ron pouted.

"Ron, I was standing outside the door for a few minutes before I finally came in. I heard everything you said."

"Then how can you think I've been a prat? After my history with him? _Our_ history with him? And after all this dodgy stuff that's been happening to him? _Because_ of him? I don't know how you can expect me not to at least be a little wary," Ron said.

"Ron, being wary is fine. In fact, it's good to be a little wary," Harry explained. "But you're practically attacking the guy every time you lay eyes on him."

"Your point?" Ron narrowed his eyes.

"If Sirius taught me one thing, it's to live in the moment. It shouldn't matter anymore what he did in his past. Right now, he's on our side—he's one of us. And in case you haven't noticed, he's gone through hell for your sister. Draco and Ginny aren't any random couple. I think it just might work between those two. And I don't want you to mess things up for yourself."

"Mess things up for myself? Oh? You think _I_ mess things up?" Ron huffed.

"Er, yes," Harry said.

"Oh, yeah? Why don't you give me proof?" Ron crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, you were the one hollering at Malfoy when he attacked us," Harry shrugged.

"Oh! Now it's my fault your blood and guts exploded everywhere? Is that what you're saying?" Ron threw his arms up in disbelief.

"Ron, no, that's not what I'm saying. That part wasn't your fault. Just… just give the guy a break, okay? I think he really wants to change. For the better. And you're not making this transition any easier for him," Harry got up off the wall.

"He wants to change," Ron stated. "It's a bit late for that, isn't it?"

"Ron, there's never a good or bad time to change. You need to count the _opportunities_ to change. Draco's just like any one of us—he acts based on rational self-interest. He's finally realized that Voldemort's side doesn't have anything to offer him. It doesn't matter what made him realize that or why he's changing, really, but that he's changing… that's what should matter to us, and that's what we should embrace. But just for the record, Ron, I think I'd have to say Ginny is one of Malfoy's sole reasons for reconsidering the path of his life," Harry said honestly.

"Okay, fine, you're right," Ron sighed. "I mean, when you start talking like Hermione, you've _got_ to be right." Ron rolled his eyes as Harry cracked a smile. "But it's just so hard to… to be _nice_ to him! I mean," Ron looked around to make sure no one was listening. "He turned me into a weasel!" He hissed.

Harry laughed. "What? When did this happen?"

"Right after he attacked you. His special 'attack' for me, I guess, was to turn me into a weasel. I think it's because Moody turned him into a ferret fourth year," Ron scowled. "Speaking of which, we really need to get a move on figuring out how to cure Malfoy."

Harry smiled. "Liking the positive attitude."

"Yeah, well, Ginny seems to like him, so I guess I ought to at least _try_ and help," he sighed and both boys went back into the Infirmary.

x x x

"My Lord, we've lost the girl. Riddle—"

The fireplace Lucius Malfoy was speaking into suddenly flared up in flames. "_YOU WHAT? INCOMPETENT FOOLS!_" Voldemort roared.

_Riddle let him go. So_ you're _the fool here_. Lucius thought to himself dryly. But he suddenly jumped back as one of the flames licked dangerously close to his face.

"_THAT GIRL IS CRUCIAL TO MY PLAN. GET. HER. BACK._" Voldemort hissed.

"My liege, we're trying. I've got—"

"_YOU'VE GOT A SON. A SON YOU CAN'T EVEN CONTROL. THAT GIRL IS WITH HIM. FIND HIM. FIND THEM. BRING ME THE GIRL._"

Lucius looked rather bored, but his heart was pounding and he was sweating. And it wasn't because of the fire either. Still, in a voice calm as ever, he bowed low and said, "Yes, my Lord. Consider it done."

**Author's Note:** Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans. And… uh… Ginny's "You're not going to try and kill me again, are you? Because that would be awkward," line is from the "Asylum" episode from my new favorite show, Supernatural. Jared Padalecki is so hot! Yay! But that line's from Dean (Jensen Ackles). Just so you know. Oh, yeah. The title of this chapter is "Interlude" since the action is far from being over. This chapter was a calm chapter used to explain a few things. Hope I've pulled most of you out of the dark.

**Chapter Eight:** Things have pretty much calmed down for Harry & co. Well, at least they're all together again. Now all they need to do is find a cure for Draco's vampire situation. But will they find it in time? And Voldemort is out to find Ginny again. But why Ginny? Find out all this and more in the next chapter!

Thanks to **bigreader** and **Andromeda77** for reviews last time. :)


	8. Curiosity

**Chapter 8: Curiosity**

"So now I'm a vampire," Draco mused aloud.

"Well, not for long," Ginny reminded him.

"Tell me Granger," he scowled a bit to himself, even the last name of the person with whom he was directing the following question to felt odd on his tongue. "What exactly are vampires supposed to do? What _can_ we do?"

Hermione either did not mind the usage of her surname, or was far too excited to share her knowledge, for she jumped to answer Draco's question instantly. But she never actually had the chance to answer.

"Miss Granger?" Madam Pomphrey poked her head through the curtains that led into another room. "May I see you for a minute?"

She gave an apologetic look to her friends and followed Madam Pomphrey through the curtains.

"A lot of good that Pomphrey is. I'm still stuck in this dreadful polyester and now I'll never know if I can spontaneously transfigure myself into a bat."

Ginny giggled.

"How could Pomphrey tell you that?" Ron scoffed. 

Draco cocked an eyebrow and glared. "_Granger_ was about to—oh, nevermind." He muttered under his breath. "Idiot." 

"Hey!" Both Ron and Ginny chimed together.

"_What_?" Draco groaned.

Ginny placed her hands on her hips and glared down at Draco.

"I haven't the slightest clue what you're looking at me like that for, but you should stop. It's downright frightening looking at you like that," Draco said, still trying not to look Ginny directly in the eyes.

Hermione suddenly slipped back into the room.

"What'd Madam Pomphrey want?" Harry asked.

Hermione stiffened a bit, gave a funny sort of look to Harry, then turned to everyone else. "Well, uh, she… well… she just had a question. Er… about a book. Yes. A question about a book. And, well, who better to ask about books than me, right?—Oh, look at these sheets," Hermione awkwardly began examining the sheets on an empty hospital bed. "Wrinkled. Completely wrinkled. I can fix that." And she went about charming all the sheets on the empty beds.

"Okay…" Harry stared at her until Pomphrey came back into the room.

"Mr. Malfoy? Drink." The nurse promptly shoved a goblet full of reddish liquid under Draco's nose. 

"This…this is blood!" Draco spat, making a face. 

Madam Pomphrey sighed. "Brilliant assessment, dear, now drink it."

Draco gawked. "_No_!"

Pomphrey sighed again. "I can see how this might seem revolting, and even though we are working very diligently to find a cure for your current, er, symptoms, you are right _now_ a vampire, and unless you drink some human blood, the road to recovery will be a very difficult one."

Draco glared. "What use was that other junk you had me drink?"

"That potion was to control your bloodlust. You're still a vampire, but with the other potion, you won't _feel_ like a vampire, thus protecting the people you are around."

Draco reluctantly took the goblet into his hands. It was filled quite near the top with the red blood. It smelled like blood and even made him slightly queasy. He swirled it around and watched the liquid cling to the sides of the goblet before quickly running back down the cup.

"Bottoms up," Draco muttered.

He took a deep breath, brought the goblet to his lips, and tipped the hot red blood into his mouth. At first, he expected it to taste bitter and salty, but it was anything _but_. The blood tasted sweet on his vampire tongue. Every drop that went down his throat seemed to reach out to every limb in his body, and all of it made his body feel warm and strong.

But suddenly, he looked over the cup and his eyes landed on Granger, who looked rather pale as she watched him drink. And that was when a sick, sick, _sick_ thought dawned on him. Draco's eyes bulged and he stopped drinking. Spluttering and coughing all over the place, Draco glared furiously at the school nurse. "Where is this blood from?" Before Pomphrey could say anything, he added, "_Who_ is this blood from?" He looked absolutely mad with a line of blood running down his chin and drops of blood sprinkled over his sheets.

Madam Pomphrey gave an exasperated groan when she saw Draco was pointedly glaring at Hermione. "From Miss Granger," she answered simply. 

"No! How _dare_ you trick me into drinking from that? That mudblood?" Draco hollered. "Why not Weasley, or even Potter?"

Hermione's cheeks had grown very red and her lower lip was trembling. Ginny knew it was all her friend could do to keep herself from crying, but was impressed when she still managed to answer Draco. "Blood type, Draco," she gasped. "There is no _real_ pureblood or mudblood. You've got type O blood, and the only other person who can give you blood is another person with type O blood. Unfortunately, I happen to be the only person in this room with type O blood."

Draco ripped his gaze off Hermione. He was seething. "I'm not drinking anymore of this."

"Malfoy!" Harry hollered. "You've already chugged over half of it—it's already in you! Stop being ridiculous."

"_I'm_ ridiculous—?" Draco began to protest.

"Drink it," Ginny ordered.

Draco, surprised to hear Ginny order him as such, could only stare. Then he put the goblet down on the bedside table and crossed his arms over his chest. "No."

Ginny began tapping her foot. "Ron? Harry?"

Before Draco could even process what was happening, Ron and Harry were on either side of him, holding him down. He kicked out and tried to squirm, but he couldn't move at all. Well, there was no way they could hold him down _and_ open his mouth, so he clamped it shut.

Until Ginny slugged him in the gut.

"AGGHHH—!" Draco hollered out, only to have his shouts of pain muffled by Hermione Granger's blood, rapidly entering his mouth. Ginny stood over him, her eyes squinted as she made sure every drop entered his mouth.

It was okay—he just didn't have to swallow. But when Ginny realized the blood she was pouring into Draco's mouth wasn't going anywhere, she wrapped the fingers of her spare hand around Draco's throat and began to jostle it around a bit. Draco began coughing at his sudden lack of oxygen, and instinctively began to swallow as well. After the goblet was empty, Harry and Ron finally let go, and Ginny stepped back.

"Always have to do things the hard way, don't you, Draco?" Ginny placed her arms on her hips again. 

Madam Pomphrey didn't exactly approve of Ginny's methods, but at least it worked. She tapped her on the shoulder and handed the girl another bottle.

"Now, this is the bottle with the potion that takes care of your bloodlust. Down the whole thing, you understand?"

Draco simply stared at her, wondering what it might be like to _live_ with someone like her—no wonder Ron Weasley was always jumping at the littlest of things.

"Understand?" Ginny bit out again.

Draco gritted his teeth as he snatched the bottle from her and emptied its contents into his mouth. "There. Happy?"

"No," Ginny said. "Apologize to Hermione." 

"For _what_? I drank the blood—? Hey! Stop that!" Draco hollered. Ginny had grabbed the hair near the nape of his neck and was pulling it hard. "ALL RIGHT! FINE! SORRY FOR CALLING YOU A MUDBLOOD, GRANGER—MERLIN, LET GO!"

Ginny finally let go. "See how simple things can be when you cooperate?" She gave him one of her sweetest smiles.

Draco happened to look in Ron's direction at that moment and found the boy giving him a look that seemed almost sympathetic. He was about to say something then, but an ear-piercing screech from an owl suddenly ripped through the air. Draco froze. "No," he whispered. "No, not _now_!" Draco whipped the covers off the bed and jumped down to the floor. 

"Wha—Mr. Malfoy, where _are_ you going?" Madam Pomphrey exclaimed.

Ginny's look of triumph from moments before was replaced with a look of concern. "Draco, what's wrong?"

"That owl—it's my father's. He's on his way here!" He said this as he took off his pajama top and replaced it with the black shirt he'd been wearing earlier.

"Your father? But isn't he in—" _jail_, Harry was about to say. 

"Thanks for the reminder, Potter," Draco said, pausing to charm his pants back on. "Then it's mother. _Even_ better," he groaned as he crouched down, looking for his shoes.

Ginny pulled him up, handing him his shoes. "But they can't take you away, can they?"

"It's my mother! What's so odd about a student leaving school with his parents? Of course they can do that," Draco replied. Then he ran a hand through his hair, took a quick look around the room, then said, "It's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been _real_ fun. So I'll see you when I do." And he walked out of the room, leaving everyone staring where he'd been moments before.

"I can't believe he just used that line," Harry said in disbelief.

Wordlessly, Ginny followed after Draco.

"Ginny, wait!" Ron said. 

"Maybe you should let her go," Hermione said. "She's only gone to say goodbye."

x x x

Draco had summoned his belongings on his way down the main staircase, and they were now neatly folded inside the bag slung over his shoulder. He opened the great Hogwarts doors just a crack (a crack compared to their grand size) and slipped through, the cold morning air greeting him. He stood at the top of the stairs leading out of the castle, slouching quite uncharacteristically, with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He felt awful. It wasn't that he was feeling ill or that some random vampire ailment had suddenly started to bother him, but he felt awful about leaving. The truth of the matter was that he did not want to leave. He was leaving Ginny behind, and he was upset about that, but… he surprised himself when he realized he was upset to be leaving behind Potter and his friends as well.

They weren't _his_ friends, and it was quite clear they really didn't _want_ to be his friends, but nonetheless, whether it was due to Ginny's fondness of him, or some other force unseen, they had accepted him, oddly enough. They didn't really ask questions, though they still harbored an odd sort of distaste for him, but awkward and out of place as he felt around them, he also felt two things he hadn't felt for a long time—maybe even ever.

He felt safe and he felt he belonged.

Draco was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts at the trotting sound of horse hooves. He immediately straightened his posture, and almost instinctively, he put on an imaginary mask of seriousness and nobility. When the horse-drawn carriage stopped before him, Draco soundlessly made his way down the stairs. He saw that his father's eagle-owl had been flying behind the carriage.

The carriage door opened and black fabric billowed and tumbled out the door. Draco heard two sharp sounds as the feet under the dress made contact with the ground, and he finally looked up. His mother was clad in an expensive, long, frilly black dress, and her platinum hair had been twisted into a bun with elegant curls falling over her bare shoulders. "Hello, mother," Draco said, trying very hard to keep his eyes on her.

His mother took a moment to look him over, head to foot. "Is this it, then?" 

A bit uncertainly, Draco replied, "Yes."

She peered at her son oddly. "Well, don't you have companions to see you off?"

"See me off?" Draco questioned. "I'm coming back sooner or later, aren't I?"

Narcissa Malfoy then did something she didn't do often. She smiled. Then she placed her long, thin fingers on Draco's shoulder. "Of course, of course," she said, using her wand to move Draco's bag inside the carriage. "But what about that girl you've written to me about?" 

Draco's eyes widened a bit. "How did you know about—" 

"Pansy Parkinson—that was her name. What about her?" Narcissa mused aloud. "You two _are_ still a couple?" 

Draco's heart was about to burst out of his chest, as it was beating so hard. "Er, no mother. Sorry, it didn't work out. But may I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"Why exactly are you here? The school year isn't over yet. There was no need for you to trouble yourself in coming all this way," Draco motioned at the horse-drawn carriage.

"Curiosity, Draco, is a very strange thing to play with," she replied.

"Mother, what do you mean?" Draco asked.

"I think you know what I mean," she replied.

Draco clenched his fists at his sides, his nails digging into his palms. He found he sometimes lightly pinched himself like this whenever he was nervous. Most of the time it was when he was speaking with his father, though. He probably appreciated the sensation he received from the pinching because it kept part of his mind occupied with the subtle pain it caused him, instead of whatever else was at hand.

Narcissa repeated herself. "Curiosity is a very strange thing to play with, but it can also be quite rewarding."

"What—?" Draco began. 

"Miss Weasley?" Narcissa suddenly said.

Draco's eyes immediately shot open, but before he said anything, he realized his mother's eyes were looking over his head. He whirled around to see Ginny's head peeking out through the door. Draco's mouth dropped open, but he recomposed himself in time to give Ginny his best glare. "Weasley, what're _you_ doing here?"

Ginny's mouth had fallen open as well when she'd seen Draco with his mother. "I… I… I was… It's none of your business, _Malfoy_," she finally said, making to go back through the door.

"Miss Weasley," Narcissa repeated more firmly this time. "I addressed you, and it would do you well not to ignore me."

Ginny's insides squirmed as she finally came all the way through the door and stood at the top of the stairs.

"Mother, _really_, we needn't waste time on _her_," Draco said. _Why_ was Ginny out here?

"Silence, Draco," she barked at her son. Then she turned to Ginny. "I've heard very much about you." 

Ginny eyed Draco oddly. "Um, thank y—," she began to say. But suddenly Mrs. Malfoy's hair began to do something very odd. Her curls were straightening, and the bun on her head was beginning to fall apart.

Draco saw how Ginny was eyeing his mother, so he turned and nearly fell back at what he saw. His mother's small, dainty features were slowly elongating. Her smooth skin began to look slightly rough and worn.

It seemed she'd realized what was happening because she lost all composure, shoved Draco aside, and pointed her wand at Ginny.

"Mother, _no_!" Draco shouted.

Ginny was too shocked to move or do anything at all, but it turned out she really didn't need to. All of the sudden, Narcissa Malfoy turned so quickly that her hair covered her face, but her wand was now pointed at Draco's head.

Helplessly, he looked up at her from the ground. But with a sharp gust of wind, Mrs. Malfoy's hair blew out of her face, and Draco cried out, "Father!"

"_Imperio_," he hissed.

And suddenly, Draco's eyes glazed over, his facial features stilled, and he got up and stood straight, next to his father, who was now clad in his traditional Malfoy robes.

Panicked, Ginny fumbled with her wand. _Expelliarmus, expelliarmus, expelliarmus_, she thought to herself. It was the only spell that would be of any help. Finally, she pointed her shaking wand at Lucius Malfoy. "_Expelli_—" 

But he beat her spell and shouted, "_Silencio_!" Then he smirked at her as she went on mouthing wordlessly, completely powerless. "Find shorter spells, Miss Weasley," he advised. "And thank you for coming out here all alone. Very touching, actually. Come to see off my son." He sneered, watching Ginny look helplessly at Draco, knowing she was close enough to run to him, but also knowing just running to him wouldn't be of any help.

Then, Lucius pointed his wand at Draco, silently commanding his _imperio_-stricken son. When he finished, Ginny was horrified to see Draco standing completely still with his own wand pointed at his chest.

Knowing her pleas were helpless even if her voice had sound, Ginny silently tried to shout out, "Please, don't! Stop it! Don't hurt him!"

"Curiosity is a very strange thing to play with," he said for the third time that hour. He looked at his son scathingly. "He doesn't love you, you know."

"You're wrong," Ginny shouted silently.

"No. He does not love you." Lucius said. "He hates _me_, yes, but he doesn't love you. Perhaps he only hates you less than he hates me. But that is not love. Love is worthless, Miss Weasley. My son does not know how to love. He has never known love. And that is because love is a weakness. For instance," he said as he pointed his wand at Draco and again commanded his son through his mind.

Draco suddenly wheezed out, "Avada…"

Ginny's now tear-filled eyes shot open. Lucius Malfoy was going to _kill_ his own son? She ran toward Draco, but instantly found she could not move. Lucius had used a silent spell to still her.

"Unless you come with me, Miss Weasley, I will be forced to have my son finish that spell. And before you think it won't work, remember—I raised my son with force. Some might even say with hatred." He smiled. "He has not known love. He harbors enough darkness within his soul to finish that spell, and to make it work. I should know. I raised him. Now," he pointed his wand at Ginny again. "I'm going to let you move again in a minute, and I trust you'll come with me silently? Even after I grant you your voice again?"

Ginny regained control of her limbs and heard herself quietly sniffling. She nodded and entered Lucius Malfoy's carriage on her own.

"You see, Miss Weasley? Love is a weakness," Lucius Malfoy said.

With that, he shut the door to the carriage and let Ginny have a look at Draco. Then he waved his wand and Draco uttered, "Kedavra…" 

"NO!" Ginny shouted, trying to kick the door open. 

But it was too late. The door wouldn't budge, and the mere second of bright green light was already gone, and Draco's recently rigid form now lay in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"RON! HARRY! RON, HELP ME! SOMEBODY, HELP ME—!"

But her cries for help were extinguished when Lucius entered the carriage from the other side and slapped her so hard with the back of his hand that she was now spiraling into a rapidly darkening abyss of darkness, sadness, loneliness, and despair.

"Love," Lucius said aloud, in an almost mocking, yet amused tone. He felt the carriage begin to move. "How very curious, indeed."

**Author's Note:** And on that merry ending, happy holidays! LOL, just kidding. Hopefully I'll be able to pop out the next chapter while I'm still on winter vacation. We'll see!

**Chapter Nine:** Um… so is this the fourth time I've killed Draco/ Yeah… about that… heh. So obviously, the others will be finding his body (dude, Lucius sucks… and he cross-dresses!). And we'll be finding out where Ginny's been taken and exactly why the Dark Lord's interested in her as well. Stay tuned!

Thanks to **bigreader** and **Andromeda77** for reviews last chapter!


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